


underground

by renniepie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Coming of Age, Gambling, Huang Renjun gambles, M/M, Mark lee is a theif, Mommy Issues, Multi, Nomin best friends, Sassy Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, ayyy let’s get it og China line brothers, markhyuck, norenmin, rich bitches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:34:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 46,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23766988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renniepie/pseuds/renniepie
Summary: Renjun’s a teen gambler, one day he meets two boys that do the sameaka norenmin fic where Renjun meets nomin gambling and gets intertwined in their weird relationshippulled from my wattpad
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 9
Kudos: 61





	1. gamble

**Author's Note:**

> pulled this one from my wattpad whoop whoop!  
> tiktok @renniepie  
> wattpad @ renniepie_  
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷 

Renjun showed the large man his I.D and when the bouncer saw who sent him, he immediately let the boy enter. 

He had heard the place was easy to get money out of, which he was thankful for, he couldn't wait to get home to sleep. 

He stepped inside and immediately noticed how intoxicated the people inside were, everyone's eyelids were half shut and people were stumbling around. He went deeper in to the bar where the real deals were. 

The typical games were there. Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, etc. There was nothing special about the place but he would have to gather up 20,000 dollars by the end of the night. 

Renjun walked around until he found a game that interested him, Chinese poker. Some people say the game is pure luck but there's always a special way you can adjust your cards. It was definitely one of his favorite games. 

He watched the men at the table as they laughed cockily, beating the man at the end of the table. The man gave away his stack of money miserably, walking away in defeat. 

Renjun took a deep breath and fixed the clips in his hair that Bao made him wear. He walked up to the table of patronizing men and gave them a nice smile. 

"Um...would you mind if I played with you." Renjun said shyly, looking down at his fingers. The men looked him up and down and laughed. 

"Do you have anything to offer, little boy?" The man at the end of the table questioned, his smile unfaltering. 

"Um...yes." Renjun took out about a thousand dollars from his backpack and placed it on the table. The men looked at him with interest, they all began whispering to each other. 

"Okay, you can play with us but we don't want your money..." The man to the left smirked disgustingly, his yellow teeth reminding Renjun of a moldy squash. 

"If we win, we get to mess around with you for an hour or two, eh..?" The third man raised a brow, looking at Renjun suggestively. Renjun threw up a little in his mouth at the thought.

"Okay then..." Renjun smiled, sitting where the previous man was. The three men chuckled.

"This should only take about one round then?" The man in the middle smiled creepily, getting ready to shuffle the cards. Renjun nodded, putting his money back in his backpack. 

"How about we do $500, $1000, $2000?" The men started taking out their money from their expensive designer bags. Renjun did the math and even if he won all three rounds, he knew that wouldn't be near $20,000 and he'd preferred to only play one game today. 

"How about $2000, $3000, $4000?" Renjun suggested with a timid voice. The men looked at him skeptically. He had to get them to agree to the deal, he looked around the room and saw a silver object that might interest the men. 

He stood up to get the two silver objects from below a dancer's feet, he placed them on the table, along with $10,000 dollars from his backpack. 

The men looked at the handcuff's and smirked at each other. "2,3,4 it is then." 

The men took stacks out of their bags, placing it next to them. "Let's begin." 

The man in the middle began shuffling the cards, he handed 13 cards to each person. Renjun picked up his cards and saw how he had 3 aces. Fucking idiots can't even shuffle a deck correctly. 

He looked at the rest of his cards and saw how he didn't get any Queens and only one king but he did get 2 Jacks and two 10's which is all he needed. 

He choose his Top Hand, which consisted of a King, 10 and a Jack. His Middle Hand had, a Jack, 10, 5, ace and a 6. That was the riskier Hand, he hoped whoever had the last ace had decided to put it at the end, which was most likely to happen. In the bottom hand he put his 2 ace's and the rest of his cards, which were his highest numbers.

He looked up to see the men still deciding where to put their cards, a small crowd had grown around them, looking at the cards from behind the men. 

Renjun organized his cards and waited, he waited until five minutes passed and he tilted his head cutely to the side. 

"Having trouble boys?" Renjun smiled. 

"Shut up, before you regret it kid." One of the men said, not looking up to see Renjun.

They finally finished, looking confident. The man in the middle turned his decks over first, as predicted, he had the final ace in his Bottom Hand and he put both his kings in his Middle Hand. Amateur. The crowd applauded the man and he smiled to himself proudly. 

The other two flipped their decks, the man on the left almost beating Renjun with his Middle Hand but only being 2 points off. Renjun smiled to himself, glad to have it over with. 

The three men looked at him in anticipation, the crowd joining in. He flipped his Top Hand and the crowd oo'd at the selection. 

"Whatever, it's only one point!" The man in the middle spat bitterly.

Renjun flipped his last two Hands simultaneously, smiling to himself. The crowd went wild, the three men stood up to look at the Hands, astonished. 

Renjun put his money back in his backpack, along with the money he had just won. The men looked at him suspiciously. 

"He cheated!" One of the men accused. Renjun slipped on his backpack and shrugged, "You shuffled the deck." 

"That's it, you're gonna get it." The man in the middle ran towards him. Renjun slipped through the crowds of bodies easily, due to his small physique. He ran out the door he came through, the body guard paying him no attention. 

Renjun kept running, toward the other side of the street, out of sight. He saw the three men run out the door, looking around but not being able to spot the boy anywhere. Renjun laughed silently at the idiots. 

He walked down the street, to the bus stop. Despite just winning $27,000, the raven-haired boy used public transportation to get home.

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Renjun walked up the hill to the giant house he lived in. He was out of breath by the time he got to the house.

It wasn't as big as the other houses in the neighborhood but Renjun was still proud of it. 

He got to the door and began unlocking it when he heard a voice behind him. 

"How much did you make?" Renjun jumped, he turned to see Sicheng behind him and smiled. 

"27k." Sicheng raised his brow, impressed. 

"You?" 

"I made a little under 40k, that's a good amount." Renjun opened the door and headed left to the kitchen. 

Bao was sitting at the counter filling out papers. She looked up at the two and smiled "What have you two brought today??" 

The boys emptied out their backpacks on to the counter, making about 67k all together.

"I told you that casino was easy Renjun." Bao put the stacks of money in to envelopes.

"How was the party Sicheng?" She asked, continuing filling out the papers. 

"It was fine." Sicheng said quietly, he was always quiet after. 

"Okay, well you two should get to sleep and you have school tomorrow." Renjun looked at the time, 3 am. He sighed and began walking out the kitchen.

"Goodnight mom! I love you." Renjun gave Bao a kiss on the cheek and ran up the stairs. Sicheng stayed in the kitchen, talking to their mother. 

He went up the spiral of stairs and stopped in front of his other brother's room, he opened the door slightly and smiled at the sleeping figure of the younger, middle school boy. His blond hair was a mess and his mouth hung slightly open. 

Chenle was the only brother that didn't know what being poor was like, the only one that would never have to know what their mother does or what they do at night. The only one that didn't have to learn how to gamble and take advantage of people at a young age, the only biological son Bao had. 

He could live a regular life, hell, he could live a wealthy, lavish life without ever knowing what was behind it all. Renjun envied him for it but he was also happy that he could provide that for his little brother. 

He closed the door lightly but heard Chenle stir in his sleep. 

"Renjun?" The boy sat up on his elbows, squinting at the figure at the door. 

"Yeah, it's me. Go back to sleep." Renjun said closing the door. 

"Wait! No....stay.." Renjun opened the door to see his little brother calling him over. He was only 4 years younger than him but he felt so much older. 

Renjun walked in to the room and laid down next to Chenle, the younger closed his eyes again, after making sure Renjun wouldn't leave. Renjun laid next to him and immediately went to sleep.

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	2. wealth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_  
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Renjun, wake up!" Renjun opened his eyes suddenly and looked at the classroom, all the students were facing him. 

"Sorry..." Renjun sank in his seat. Donghyuck giggled next to him. Once everyone moved their eyes back on the teacher, Donghyuck placed an adderall on Renjun's desk. 

"Take it, it does wonders." Donghyuck said applying another layer of lip gloss on his lips. 

Renjun rolled his eyes and threw the pill across the room in the trash. "So what'd you do last night?" Donghyuck asked curiously. 

Donghyuck was the only person that knew about Renjun's secret life, after he entered Renjuns house uninvited and saw Bao with pounds of cocaine in the kitchen, he was kind of forced to explain. 

"It was a regular gamble but I didn't get home till 3." Renjun yawned. 

"Ooo, next time you should take me." Donghyuck winked. Renjun nodded, he was definitely never taking Donghyuck anywhere. 

Renjun looked at the board, not processing anything the teacher was saying. His eyelids getting heavy, he thought of his bed and the way the maid had just replaced his pillows with new feather pillows from France and he drifted away slowly.

"Renjun!" The teacher yelled. The boy jumped at his voice, "Detention after school!" Renjun sighed and nodded obediently. 

"Honestly teach, maybe if your class wasn't so lame, we wouldn't be having this problem. I mean who the fuck even cares about the French revolution, does this look like France to you." Donghyuck said sassily, earning snickers from the rest of the class. 

"Donghyuck, this is physics and you've just earned yourself your fourth detention this week." The teacher rolled his eyes. 

Donghyuck only shrugged and started filing his nails. Renjun knew Donghyuck wouldn't go to detention, he never did and the teachers couldn't really do anything about it since his parents were huge investors to the school. 

The bell rang and the boys headed to the cafeteria, where Renjun slept next to Donghyuck, while Donghyuck bragged about his house in Hawaii. 

"My parents also have a house in Hawaii, we actually went there a couple weeks ago." A boy said, showing pictures of the house proudly. Donghyuck looked at the house and scoffed. 

"Of course your house is in Makaha, aren't your parents like dermatologists or something. Lame." Donghyuck looked unimpressed. The rest of the table laughed and the boy retracted his phone. 

"Renjun, what do your parents do?" A girl asked, looking Renjun up and down, she tapped her silver fingernails on the table cockily. Renjun looked up when he heard his name and he hesitated to say anything. 

"Why the fuck do you care? God Ji-woo, you really are the nosiest person at this school." Donghyuck twirled his hair and looked at the girl in disgust. She stopped tapping her fingernails on the table and nervously played with her hair. 

"Let's go Renjun, this is boring." Donghyuck picked up his limited edition Chanel bag and dragged Renjun from the table. 

Renjun followed him until they were alone in a lounge that Donghyuck's parents requested in the school just for Donghyuck's personal use.

The boys sat there in silence. Donghyuck dropped his sassy persona and stared at Renjun as he sat on the couch, trying hard not to fall asleep. 

"Just take a nap Junnie. I'll wake you up when 3rd starts." Donghyuck said softly, he started fixing his hair in the mirror and watched Renjun drift to sleep. 

Renjun was Donghyuck's only true friend, he would do anything for the boy. Renjun was the only interesting person in the whole school but that wasn't very surprising when they went to a elite private school with a bunch of stuck up kids, that were all insecure. 

Donghyuck knew that Renjun would be his best friend, the day that Renjun took the chair that Kim Minseo used for her 'out of season Armani bag' away and sat on it, causing everyone to gasp and Minseo to throw a fit and get sent to the principals office.

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Oh goodie, you're here! Tonight I'm throwing a gambling party and the Lee's are coming. Imagine the amount of mo-" Bao stopped mid-sentence when she saw Donghyuck. 

"Oh...hey hyuck, it's been a while." Bao smiled awkwardly.

"It's okay Ms. Huang. Gambling is like T.V. when you're filthy rich." Donghyuck gave her an adorable smile. 

"Okay...I'll just start prepping for the party then." Bao looked at Donghyuck weirdly, he was like a little demon, inside a cute, little boy's body. 

"We'll be upstairs!" Renjun pulled Donghyuck to his room, until he was stopped by Chenle in the middle of the hallway.

"Uhm, can we talk..." The blonde-haired boy said, looking a little nervous. 

"Yeah, what is it?" Renjun raised a brow. 

"Can we talk in your room?" Chenle looked down the stairs, making sure no one was there. "I don't want mom hearing us," he whispered. 

Renjun nodded and he followed Chenle, hoping nothing bad happened. 

The boys went inside his room, Donghyuck and Renjun sitting on the bed, looking at a nervous Chenle. 

"What happened? Are you in trouble?" Renjun asked worriedly. Chenle nodded a yes, Renjun felt his stomach flip. 

"There's......this boy..." Chenle tapped his fingers together. Renjun let out a sigh of relief, only regular middle school stuff. 

"AHH! A BOY!" Donghyuck yelped. 

"SHhh! Mom can't find out, she'll smother me." Chenle hushed Donghyuck. 

Donghyuck nodded in understanding and smiled widely, "Okay, so who is he?" 

"He's in my grade and he's really cute but sometimes he's a tiny bit mean but that's okay because he's just awkward." Chenle giggled. 

"Last name?" Donghyuck asked. 

"Park." Chenle said. 

"Park Jihoon?" Donghyuck asked, Chenle shook his head.

"Park Jinjin?" Chenle shook his head again. 

"Park Jisung?" Chenle blushed at only hearing his name. 

"Guessed it!" Donghyuck applauded himself. "His parents own literal soccer teams, you got yourself a wealthy boy right there."

"I just found out I have a crush on him and I don't know what to do, he's most likely straight." Chenle fidgeted with his fingers. 

"Ask him then." Renjun offered. 

Donghyuck and Chenle both looked at the boy, "What? Is that something you can't do?" 

"Oh my god, of course not Renjun, what's wrong with you!" Chenle sighed in exasperation. 

"Sorry, Jesus." Renjun put his hands up in defense. 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes and gave the boy advice, even though Chenle asked Renjun if he could talk to him. Renjun only listened, he was never one to get hung up with crushes. 

"Yeah and you have to play kind of hard to get because he's a middle school boy." Donghyuck warned. Chenle nodded attentively. 

The boys talked the rest of the afternoon, until people started coming for Bao's party. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	3. game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wrote this a year ago man, like on god I’m not even close to finishing, if anything I’m like almost halfway there, anyway here’s ch. 3 
> 
> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Renjun was almost able to have a regular night. A night where his friend could come over to his house and they could sit down and watch movies and gossip but it was all too good to be true.

"So look, one of my 'man friends' told me about this club. It's really fucking fancy but whatever, just show your I.D to the bouncer and he'll let you in but look." Bao put a bunch of papers of a club on Renjun's desk. 

Renjun looked over the photos and saw the club, it was elegant. The stripper poles were studded with diamonds, the chandeliers diamond as well. The seats were made of the finest pink leather and all the dancers looked expensive. 

"What about it?" Renjun asked. 

"If you look at this door right here.." Bao pointed at a barely visible door in the corner of the room, "There's underground gambling and if you win, it's easy to make bank."

"Cool, I'll go then." Renjun gathered the papers. 

"Ah, I wasn't finished." Bao smiled. 

"There's a rumor that these two men in there are playing a game for a prize of 100,000." Renjun's eyes widened upon hearing the number.

"100,000?! What game are they playing?" Renjun was already thinking of ways to beat the men in his head, he had been playing every gambling game since he was 6, this was going to be the easiest money he'd ever won.

"That's the thing, they made up the game. No one ever wins, that's why the price is so high but I know my little Renjunnie can change that." Bao winked. Renjun nodded in interest, this was going to be a challenge. 

"Okay, let's do this!" Donghyuck shouted from his bed, Renjun had forgotten the boy was there. 

"As if I'm taking you." Renjun rolled his eyes preparing his backpack, putting in his usual stack of 10k in. 

"Well, you can't just leave me here!" Donghyuck complained.

"I see no harm in taking him." Bao shrugged, leaning on Renjun's desk. Renjun looked at her with wide eyes, telling her to be quiet.

"You seeeeee, take me, take me, take me!" Donghyuck bothered. 

Renjun sighed, regretting the words that hadn't even come out of his mouth yet, "Fine but don't get us in to trouble." 

"As if!" Donghyuck stood up, getting his LouisVuitton backpack ready. Renjun rolled his eyes and looked back at the pictures, memorizing the door he would have to go through. 

"Anyway, I have your friends parents to scam." Bao smiled, her youthful skin glowing. 

"Bold of you to assume we have friends." Donghyuck scoffed. Bao laughed, walking down the stairs. 

"Okay, let me take a picture of the address and let's call an Uber." Renjun said ordering an Uber and opening up his window, hopping out of it. 

"What are you doing?" Donghyuck looked at Renjun, who was on the roof. 

"I'm not about to run in to a bunch of annoying ass parents down stairs, just jump with me." Renjun jumped on the tree branch and disappeared from Donghyuck's sight. 

Donghyuck sighed and carefully followed after him. He hopped on the roof carefully and jumped on the tree branch but soon got stuck.

"Just hop off, you'll be fine." Renjun hurried the boy. 

"What if I fall and my Gucci jacket gets dirty?" Donghyuck whined, looking at the ground. 

"It's not that far from the ground, you'll land on your feet. I promise." Renjun said patiently, even though he was ready to push Donghyuck off the tree.

Donghyuck hopped and stumbled on his feet, not falling like Renjun said.

They walked to the next street and met their Uber driver. 

"Hey boys, you off to 'The Shiny Diamond'?" The driver asked, looking at the location on his phone.

"Yup!" Donghyuck chirped.

"Aren't you two a little young for a strip club?" The driver observed them through the rear view mirror. 

"What's it to you?" Renjun replied moodily. The driver immediately looked away and laughed awkwardly, scared of the small raven-haired boy.

He began driving, leaving the boys alone the rest of the ride. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Once they got to the club, there was a long line of people waiting at the entrance. Renjun walked out the car, observing the line.

"Thank you!" Donghyuck waved, closing the door to the car. 

"He better not give me a bad customer rating because of you." Donghyuck rolled his eyes, walking ahead of Renjun to the bouncer. 

They walked up to the bouncer, who was ignoring complaints from the long line. He looked at the two and pointed to the back of the line. Renjun took out his I.D. and showed it to him but he only looked straight ahead. 

"Look at the fucking card before you regret it." Renjun said roughly. The bouncer looked down at him, ready to punch him until he saw the card and immediately let them in, receiving complaints from the line. 

"Oo, bad bitch Renjun came out to play." Donghyuck teased, following Renjun to the door that was in the picture. 

He walked through the club, it was exactly what Bao showed him but filled with rich, wealthy men in suits. They were smoking expensive cigars and were surrounded by woman, some by men. 

Donghyuck looked at everything around him and elbowed Renjun in the arm, "I know all of these men's wives." 

"They probably don't get enough action." Renjun shrugged. They got to the door and Renjun opened it to reveal a dark looking stair case. 

"This is kinda sus..." Donghyuck looked at the scary, dark staircase. Renjun turned his phone flashlight on and closed the door behind him. 

He headed down the stairs, Donghyuck following directly behind him, holding on to his backpack. They got to an old looking door at the end of the staircase. 

"We're going to die." Donghyuck whispered. 

Renjun opened the door to reveal a large room, filled with people playing different games, each table dimly lit with a light. 

Renjun walked around, squeezing between people, when he saw a bigger crowd surrounding a table. Renjun and Donghyuck stood at the edge of the crowd, trying to see what everyone was looking at.

"This has to be it." Renjun tiptoed, trying to see past the crowd. 

"Okay, so here's the plan." Renjun turned to face Donghyuck. 

"We get to the front of the crowd and see what the games about." Renjun said, putting his clips in his hair. 

"I'll watch for a couple rounds just to get comfortable with it and after I win, we leave as soon as possible. Got it?" Renjun fixed his hair and his backpack. 

Donghyuck giggled at the boy, "You look so cute with your little clips."

Renjun rolled his eyes, "They look stupid. Anyway, let's push through this crowd." 

Renjun started wiggling through the crowd. Donghyuck following behind him, they got past most of the crowd until the people in front of them wouldn't budge. Renjun squeezed between people anyway, receiving dirty looks and leaving people wondering the boys age.

He finally got to the front of the crowd, where he saw the large table and a sweaty man, sitting, looking at a deck of cards. 

Everyone was looking at the cards the man had laid out in front of him. He took a marker and put stars on 4 of the cards. 

The man put the whole deck together and handed them to two figures. Renjun moved to the right of the crowd to see the two figures better. 

Renjun was very surprised to see two boys being handed the deck. Two handsome boys, one with a big cocky smile and the other next to him, with dark hair and a more serious look on his face. Renjun was used to playing against old, ugly men, with bad intentions. 

"So we all know how the game works do we?" The boy with the smile spoke, the crowd humming back.

"Well if you don't, the two of us have to guess the 4 cards that this wonderful man here drew on. If he fails, we take his money BUT if he succeeds, there's 100,000 in his future!" The crowd cheered loudly at the mention of the prize. 

"Jeno, shuffle the deck!" The boy told the other, Jeno. 

Jeno picked up the deck and shuffled it, doing all sorts of tricks with it, tormenting the man in front of them with anticipation but entertaining the crowd. 

Jeno finished shuffling and laid all the cards down. The boy smiled wider and picked out a card from the deck, putting it faced down in the middle. 

Jeno then picked out a card, doing the same thing as the other. The boys picked two more cards and sat back down. 

"Whenever you're ready, flip the cards." The boy leaned back in his seat.

The man nodded and shakily brought his hand to the 4 cards. The crowd got closer to the table, looking over the man's shoulder.

He flipped the cards and sure enough, there was a star drawn on every single one of them. 

The crowd cheered, leaving the boy with his cocky smile on his face. The man handed them what looked to be about 10k and walked in to the crowd.

"Anyone else wanna give it a try?" The boy called.

It was a cycle of losses for the crowd and for Renjun. He could not figure out how in the world they kept winning. There couldn't be a technique, it was such a simple game.

Renjun moved over to the right a little more, to the edge of the crowd, it was getting overwhelming. 

"This card seems nice." The boy said, picking up a card and putting it in the middle and for a second Renjun thought he saw a glint of something. 

He stared at the cards harder but saw nothing else. Jeno picked up another card and right as it caught the light, Renjun saw the silver glint again. 

Renjun looked at the marker they used, which in fact, was a silver dry erase. He looked carefully as the boy picked up another card and saw the sliver star drawn on the back for a millisecond. 

Renjun smiled to himself, the boys could see right through the cards, they were CHEATING! And Renjun had the perfect plan to use it against them.

"Hyuck!" Renjun looked beside him excitedly, to see that Donghyuck wasn't there. He looked behind him too, the boy was nowhere to be found. He noticed how quiet it had been for a while, how long had he been gone?

A sudden panic rose in his chest. He looked in the crowd but Donghyuck's familiar orange hair could not be seen. 

okay okay, it's alright. He'll be fine, this is a nice club, I doubt weird shit goes on in here. Let me just play the game and find him 

Renjun tried calming down, he only needed a couple of minutes to play, it would be fine. 

He grabbed his backpack and took out 4 aces from the deck of cards he always had on him, he put them up his sleeve and prepared to go next. 

The crowd hummed in dissatisfaction when the boys had yet another win. 

"Who's next?" The crowd all looked hesitant, everyone complaining about how there was no shot at the prize. 

"I'll go." Renjun spoke out. The crowd turned to face him, looking at him as if he were crazy to try. 

Renjun walked up to the table, the boy smirked as he saw him, elbowing Jeno, who was looking down at his phone, bored with playing. 

Jeno looked up, his interest peaking as Renjun sat in front of the two. 

"And what's your name?" The boy asked, sitting down in front of Renjun. 

"Nothing you should be familiar with." Renjun responded with an attitude. 

The boy laughed then smiled, "Well, I'm Jaemin, he's Jeno." Jaemin pointed at the other, who was still looking at Renjun with interest. 

"And those clips look very nice on you." Jaemin pointed out. The elder blushed, remembering the clips he had put on. Stupid Bao. 

Jaemin smirked at the blush on the boys face, knowing he caused it. Which annoyed Renjun and he was prepared to destroy them. 

"Are we playing the game or not?" Renjun replied, trying hard to stop his blushing. 

"Fine, what's your bet?" Jaemin asked. Renjun dug in his backpack and placed the 10k in front of him. 

Jeno was the one to smile this time, he handed the boy the deck of cards, "Pick four cards to write on and if we guess them, you lose." Jeno explained quickly. His voice was softer than Renjun expected. 

Jaemin looked at Jeno with slight surprise and amusement. Jeno hit him on the arm before he said something. 

Renjun ignored the two and looked through the deck for the four aces, he fished them out and drew a star in the corner of the four. 

He could feel the crowd behind him, watching his every move. He would have to be smooth at replacing them. 

He put the deck together and as Jaemin was about to pick them up, he stopped him. 

"Could I shuffle them?" Renjun asked. Jaemin looked at Jeno, who only shrugged. 

"Be our guest." Jaemin handed the deck back to him. 

Renjun started shuffling them regularly and then started doing tricks, the way Jeno had been doing. 

The crowd of adults Oo'd and Renjun spotted out the four aces with the stars, carefully slipping them in to his sleeve. 

He kept doing tricks, some more impressive than Jeno's. The boys looked surprised, as he handled the cards with ease. 

He took the four empty aces in his sleeve and slipped them in the stack, he shuffled them again regularly and handed the stack to the boys. 

Jaemin laughed lightly, "Flashy shuffling isn't going to help you." 

The boys stood up to lay out the cards. They laid them out and looked through all of them. Renjun wanted to laugh as their expressions changed, not being able to see a silver star on any of the cards. 

They looked at each other and then at Renjun. Renjun only sat and smiled. 

"Is something wrong?" Renjun asked, as the boys took their time. 

"No, not at all." Jaemin counted all the cards, they were all there. 

"I don't have all night." Renjun sighed. Jeno looked at him with a brow raised, he picked a card and placed it in the middle. 

Jaemin doing the same, hesitantly. They picked two other cards and placed them in the middle. 

Renjun smiled and flipped the four, all 4 were clean. Renjun raised the four to show they were empty, the crowd looked at them and everyone went silent in disbelief. Someone started clapping and everyone else joined in. 

"The 100k?" Renjun looked at the two, who were still in shock. 

"Are you sure you wrote on it?" Jaemin raised a brow.

"I mean, the crowd saw me right?" Renjun faced the crowd, who nodded. 

Renjun looked back at the two and nodded with the rest of the crowd. 

Jaemin looked at him with disbelief, while Jeno pulled out a suitcase from under the table and pushed it across the table towards Renjun. 

Renjun opened the suitcase to see 100k with his own two eyes. He placed his backpack on the chair and started stuffing the stacks in to it, including his own 10k. 

"How'd you do it?" Jeno asked, watching as he stuffed the money in to his backpack. 

"Your cards looked a little see through, so I might have replaced them." Renjun shrugged. 

Jeno looked at Jaemin, who had a small glint in his eye. Renjun was at his last 10k, when Jaemin grabbed it. 

"Give me your number." Jaemin demanded, looking at the boy, amazed. 

"Nope." Renjun pulled the 10k away from the boy, shoving the last of it in to his backpack. 

He put his backpack on facing foward, so that no one would try to take it. 

"At least your name!" Jaemin tried. 

Renjun smiled, "Bye!" 

He walked in to the crowd and pushed his way out, running to the creepy door, looking for Donghyuck on the way. He ran up the dark staircase, tripping the whole way up. 

The raven-haired boy, looked around the club, not finding the boy anywhere, the panic in his chest returning. Renjun took out his phone to try to call him but his phone had died. 

The boy exited the club, the bouncer paying him no mind. He looked through the long line, still no sign of Donghyuck. 

He was about to start freaking out when he saw a head of orange hair walking from the sidewalk towards the club. 

"Donghyuck!" Renjun shouted, just to make sure. 

Donghyuck looked up and ran to the boy, "You will not believe what happened." He said, out of breath. 

"What?" Renjun grabbed his hand and walked with him toward the sidewalk. 

"This fucking asshole took my backpack and my Cartier bracelet, ugh. That bag was from my 3rd favorite aunt." Donghyuck pouted.

"Well, I won 100,000 dollars. So that was nice." Donghyuck looked at the old backpack Renjun was wearing.

"Yeah, and you're carrying it in the crustiest backpack I've ever seen." 

"Whatever, let's take the bus home." Renjun sighed, thinking happily of his bed. 

"Ew no, call an Uber." Donghyuck complained. 

"My phone's dead." Renjun remembered.

"Fine, I'll do it then." Donghyuck sighed, he patted his pocket until he realized the problem. 

"You're fucking kidding me." Renjun laughed and dragged the boy to the nearest bus stop. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	4. theif

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mark lee.... you son of a bitch 
> 
> wattpad @ renniepie_ 
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Okay, so here's the plan." Renjun said turning away from the crowd. 

"We get to the front of the crowd and see what the game's about." The raven-haired boy took 4 white clips out from his pocket and parted his hair in the middle, pushing both sides back with two clips. 

"I'll watch for a couple rounds just to get comfortable with it and after I win, we leave as soon as possible. Got it?" Renjun fixed his hair so naturally, Donghyuck wondered if he put them on all the time.

He giggled at the boy, "You look so cute with your little clips."

Renjun rolled his eyes, "They look stupid, anyway, let's push through this crowd."

Renjun eased his way in to the crowd, Donghyuck followed along until he felt something pull on his backpack. 

He tried to keep going but his backpack slipped off his back. He felt it slip from his arms and get away from him.

He turned around immediately, looking for whoever took it. He pushed out of the crowd and saw them running towards the door. 

Donghyuck ran after the figure, the figure speeding up as he heard his footsteps. They ran up the stairs, Donghyuck tripping over the stairs but the figure ran up smoothly, opening and closing the door. 

"Ugh, you're kidding me." Donghyuck groaned, dragging himself up the stairs. He opened the door and looked around but he was already gone. 

The boy was ready to give up, when he saw a glint of the gold from the LV sign turn a corner. He followed it and found himself running through empty 'private rooms'. 

Donghyuck got to the last room and saw a boy with a black hood on, going through his backpack.

"Hey! You better put everything back in the bag right now." Donghyuck walked up to the boy sassily, trying to pull his backpack back but the boy easily held it. 

"If you don't let go now, I'm gonna tell my father about this. He won't be very pleased." Donghyuck scoffed. The boy stood up hovering over Donghyuck slightly but it felt like a lot more to the orange-haired male.

"Are you going to give it back now?" Donghyuck said less confidently.

The boy pushed Donghyuck on to a wall and got close to his face. Donghyuck whimpered due to the contact of his back to the wall.

"Do you think you're gonna be able to take it from me? Or is your daddy going to pop out of thin air and take it?" The boy said lowly. 

Donghyuck could make out his face now from their distance. He was blond and had nice tan skin, his attractiveness was suddenly making Donghyuck flustered, he could feel his cheeks warming up.

"I don't know you but I can tell you're a spoiled brat, and you probably have thousands of these backpacks and you probably threaten everyone that gives you a slight inconvenience with your father. Am I right?" The boy stared Donghyuck down. 

Donghyuck stayed silent, his breathing thrown off because of the boy. He looked at the ground and fidgeted with his fingers. 

"Am I right." The boy said more sternly.

"That's actually a gift from my aunt, it's kind of cheap so I don't have a lot of them in my closet actually." Donghyuck squeaked. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Well, it doesn't matter because I'm taking it." The boy separated from Donghyuck, putting everything inside the bag and flinging it over his shoulder. 

Donghyuck followed him out the room, wondering why he was just letting him get away.

"What's your name?" Donghyuck asked, walking beside him. 

The boy raised a brow, "So you can snitch on me? That's not happening."

Donghyuck stayed silent, walking beside the boy, "I was just asking. I'm not gonna tell." 

The boy stopped and looked Donghyuck up and down. He took Donghyuck's wrist and held it.

Donghyuck's breath caught in his throat, he could feel his face getting red again.

The boy raised his wrist in front of him, he gently held it and slid his bracelet off, running away. 

"HEY! That's my favorite Cartier bracelet!" Donghyuck called after him. He ran after him but had no luck in finding him, he'd already ran out the door. 

Donghyuck ran outside the club and to the sidewalk but the boy was nowhere to be found. 

"Ugh. Stupid, hot mysterious boy." Donghyuck huffed to himself. 

He walked back to the club, and heard Renjun shouting his name. He looked up and saw the boy looking relieved.

Donghyuck ran up to the club and stopped in front of Renjun, out of breath, "You will not believe what happened." 

"What." Renjun grabbed his hand, still seeming a little frantic and walked with him toward the sidewalk. 

"This fucking asshole took my backpack and my Cartier bracelet, ugh. That bag was from my 3rd favorite aunt." Donghyuck pouted. 

"Well, I won 100,000 dollars. So that was nice." Donghyuck looked at his backpack, which he was wearing on his stomach. It looked like it was about to break from all the stacks of money it was holding. It was an old, ratted tatted backpack, that looked like it was picked up from the garbage. 

"Yeah, and you're carrying it in the crustiest backpack I've ever seen." Donghyuck grimaced. 

"Whatever, let's take the bus home." Renjun sighed, looking even more tired than the day before. 

"Ew no, call an Uber." 

"My phone's dead." 

"Fine, I'll do it then." Donghyuck patted his pockets and then realized that mystery boy took it as well. 

"You're fucking kidding me." Renjun laughed and dragged the boy to the nearest bus stop. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	5. re-encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look ... I wrote this when I was 15 years old... and Jesus Christ ... she had TOO much in mind 
> 
> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Renjun! Detention!" The teacher called, that had been the 5th time he had woken him up.

"Teach, maybe you should rethink your lessons, it's not very good that they're putting people to sleep." Donghyuck put his fingernails under his portable nail dryer that was plugged in to an extension cord. 

The teacher sighed, "Donghyuck, detention for you too."

Donghyuck shrugged, his machine rang, indicating that his nails were done drying. 

The bell rang soon after, everyone stood up and ran out of the class. Donghyuck put his machine away and shook Renjun, who had fallen asleep again.

"If you just took the drugs, we wouldn't be having this problem." Donghyuck sighed. They walked side to side in the hallway to Donghyuck's break room. 

"It's fine. Bao said I wouldn't have to go out for the rest of the week since I made so much yesterday." Renjun explained. 

"Well I lost like 60k yesterday, so that was fun. I'm gonna find that stupid boy and show him what I'm made of. How dare he call me a spoiled..." Donghyuck ranted about the events of the night before. 

Renjun drifted off, falling asleep while walking. He put his body on autopilot, he was getting through the day by thinking of how much he could sleep after school. 

He kept walking, pretending to listen to what Donghyuck was saying when he saw a familiar head of black hair. 

Renjun shook his head, suddenly coming back to the real world. Was he seeing things? 

He looked straight ahead of him again and saw it for real. The head of dark hair and the smile. They walked around with a group of other boys, all rich looking and handsome. 

Renjuns' breathing hitched, he looked at Donghyuck and decided not to say anything. 

Maybe they don't recognize me. It's not like I have a recognizable face, hopefully they'll just pass by and I can go on with my life

He tried not to freak out and act cool, everything's okay, everything's okay, everything's ok-

Jaemin spotted him, his smile disappearing, replaced with shock, he elbowed Jeno on the side, calling his attention to Renjun.

Renjun freaked out and pulled Donghyuck in to a hallway, pulling him again, in to the first empty classroom he could find. 

"Oh my fucking god. They're here. They go here! HERE!" Renjun paced the room, panicking. 

"And they saw me. Oh no." Renjun paced the room quicker.

"Who? Who saw you?" Donghyuck asked in utter confusion. 

"The boys. The ones from last night, they GO HERE!" Renjun said, hardly explaining anything. 

"What boys from last night?" Donghyuck asked, trying to understand. 

"The ones that I beat, the ones with the 100k!" Renjun ran his hand through his hair worriedly.

"What? They go here? What are their names? I bet I know them." Donghyuck started excitedly.

"I don't know! Who cares! They're going to dig up dirt about me and find out my mom is a crazy big time drug dealer that lowkey runs 3 mafias and they're gonna tell everyone and the cops will get involved and my whole family will go to prison!" Renjun sat on the ground, hugging his knees. 

Donghyuck was very surprised at this new sight of Renjun. Usually the boy was so calm and sleepy, he'd never seen him freak out this bad before. 

"Junnie, it's fine. They most likely weren't supposed to be gambling 100k away at a club on a school night. If anything, they should be the ones worrying." Donghyuck reassured the boy. Renjun looked up at him and nodded, understanding the situation.

"Anyway, what are their names. This is juicy info." Donghyuck continued, digging for gossip.

"Um, I don't remember." Renjun calmed himself. 

I'm Jaemin and he's Jeno

"Oh, Jaemin and Jeno!" Renjun exclaimed, glad he remembered their names. 

Donghyuck's eyes widened, "Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno?" 

Renjun shrugged, "I guess." 

"They're hella rich AND popular, of course not as rich and popular as me but STILL!" Donghyuck smiled mischievously.

"What were they doing gambling?" Donghyuck wondered, ready to investigate. 

"What do I do about them?" Renjun asked, sitting next to Donghyuck calmly, finally regaining enough sense to think about the situation. 

"I don't know. I don't see what the big deal is." Donghyuck shrugged. 

"Yeah, it'll be fine. If they try to blackmail me, I have dirt on them." Renjun breathed. 

"Great! Can we get out of this room now?" Donghyuck stood up and dragged Renjun out. 

They went over to Donghyuck's room and finished lunch. Renjun was a little jumpy the rest of the day, every time he saw anyone that looked similar to the two he freaked out. 

"My dad gave me his debit card if you want to go shopping today." Donghyuck offered as they walked to Donghyuck's limo. 

"I'm actually a little tired. I might just go home and nap." Renjun yawned. He was actually a lot tired and was hoping to sleep all day. 

They walked to his limo when Renjun suddenly saw the two, they were standing at the gates of the school talking to someone.

"Donghyuck." Renjun whispered, shaking Donghyuck.

"What?" Donghyuck whined, prying the boys hands off of him. 

"They're right there." Renjun whispered, even though they were way to far away to hear him. 

Donghyuck looked up to see them, his eyes widened when he saw them with a familiar blonde. He dropped his backpack on the ground and ran towards them. 

Renjun widened his eyes as Donghyuck got close to them. "Hyuck! What are you doing!" He whisper-shouted. 

Renjun watched him get closer to the gates and shook his head, he decided to chase after him. 

Donghyuck got to the boys and pushed the blonde one in the chest. He stumbled back, all three boys looking at him in surprise. 

"You're the asshat that stole my Cartier!" Donghyuck huffed.

"Mark, you know him?" Jeno raised a brow. 

"Oh, so Mark's your name?" Donghyuck crossed his arms. 

"What do you want?" Mark asked, dusting himself off.

"I want my shit back, asshat." Donghyuck huffed, looking cutely angered.

"Too bad, I sold the bag and the bracelet for 300 dollars." Mark said smugly. 

Donghyuck's mouth fell open, "THAT WAS A GOLDEN PINK JUSTE UN CLOU BRACELET WITH DIAMONDS!" 

"So?" Mark shrugged. 

"SO, that bracelet was 43,600 dollars!" Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

"WHAT!" Mark's mouth was now hung open.

"And the bag?" Mark questioned. 

Donghyuck shrugged, "Like 10k, who cares. That was my new Cartier bracelet!" 

"You said the backpack was cheap!" Mark exclaimed in surprise. 

"Yeah, my cheap ass aunt got it for me." Donghyuck grimaced.

"Brat." Mark muttered under his breath. Donghyuck pushed him again. 

"At least I'm not a thief." Donghyuck spat back. 

"This is the dude that stole from you?" Renjun came up quietly. The boys all looked at him.

"Well if it isn't mr. no-name." Jaemin smiled at the smaller.

"You ran away with that 100k pretty quickly last night." Jaemin tilted his head to look at the younger. 

"It was well earned." Renjun gave them a small smile. 

"You cheated and left us broke." Jaemin pouted.

"We were technically the ones cheating." Jeno said, earning a look from Jaemin. 

Renjun put his hand in the side pocket of his backpack, remembering what he had left in there. He took out the four cards from last night, the silver of the pen shining slightly. He handed them to the boys. 

"Next time, you might not want to let someone else shuffle the deck." Jeno took the cards from his hand slowly. 

Jaemin looked at him amazed, just like the first time. 

"You guys lost to a high schooler?" Mark looked at them with disappointment. 

"Who cares what they did! I want my stuff BACK!" Donghyuck jumped up, diverting the conversation. 

"I have your phone." Mark shrugged, pulling out a brand new iPhone X, with a Gucci case, the red snakes running through the phone. 

Donghyuck went to grab it but Mark kept it from him. Holding it high enough to where he couldn't reach it. 

"Give it to me!" Donghyuck whined. 

"Give me something in return and you get your phone back." Mark shook his phone over him. 

Donghyuck crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, thinking of something on him. 

He looked at his fingers and took off his least favorite ring, putting it in Mark's hand. 

"How much is it?" Mark asked, still holding his phone. 

"It was custom made but it's from like two years ago so... it's probably only 23k." Mark's eyes widened and immediately gave the phone to Donghyuck. 

"Anyway, we should get going." Renjun pulled Donghyuck's sleeve lightly.

"Yeah, we don't have time to be spending on cons like you." Donghyuck stuck his tongue out and ran back to his limo. Renjun giggled lightly and started to follow. 

"Wait!" Jaemin jogged to catch up to him. Renjun looked back at him and stopped in his steps.

"What's your name, for real." Renjun questioned whether he should tell him or not, he didn't want him to know his name but what if he tried to look in to him and he accidentally ran in to other stuff.

"Renjun." 

Jaemin smiled, "Okay Renjun, would you want to go to lunch with me tomorrow?" 

Renjun snorted in his head. Was this boy trying to ask him out? 

"I'm quite busy tomorrow actually." Renjun apologized.

"What about the day after that?" Jaemin raised a brow. Renjun thought of a way to let the boy down but thankfully Donghyuck called him.

"Sorry, gotta go!" Renjun ran to Donghyuck's limo, hopping in the coupe and driving away.

"You were curved." Mark laughed. Jaemin sighed and watched the limo leave. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	6. together ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Jaemin kissed the boy sloppily, they sat on his bed, music blaring behind them. 

Tons of stacks of money were scattered on the ground, they had taken a break from counting. 

Jaemin kissed the boy harder, pushing him back in to the bed and climbing on top of his lap. 

He played around with his hair, pulling it around and kissing his neck lightly, not really sure where they were going, just bored. 

"Jaemin?" Jeno said quietly. 

"Hm?" Jaemin hummed, starting to feel up Jeno's shirt. 

"I have a question." Jaemin grabbed Jeno's hands and put them over his head. 

"Yeah?" He started taking the boys shirt off but Jeno stopped him.

"Do you like the boy?" Jaemin raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Jeno rolled his eyes, "Renjun." 

"Oh.....yeah, he's cute." Jaemin placed his hands on Jeno's biceps.

"Oh...ok..." Jeno nodded slightly.

"I mean, is that a problem? We're not dating or anything." Jaemin smiled. 

"Yeah, of course. I know that but um..." Jeno shook the boy off of him and sat up, making Jaemin fall off his lap. He sat across from him and raised an eyebrow. 

"Is something wrong?" Jaemin frowned slightly.

"I like him too." Jeno said softly.

"Oh...you like him?" Jaemin's frown deepened a little but left immediately.

"Well, I guess it's fair game then." Jaemin shrugged, standing up. 

"Where are you going?" Jeno watched Jaemin grab his backpack and swing it on. 

"I'm going home. I'll see you later." Jaemin smiled at the boy on the bed and walked over stacks of money to leave his room. He waved to the butler and walked out the door. 

He likes Renjun? What's so special about him? 

Okay yeah, he's really cute and smart and I also have a crush on him but that's just not fair

Jaemin and Jeno had been best friends since they were children. Jaemin was the one who started suggesting that they do things when they were both fourteen. It used to be just kissing here and there but it got more intense over the years and they agreed to stay as friends. 

BUT this was the first time Jeno ever had a crush on someone. Jaemin was usually the one to roam along, hopping from guy to guy. 

It was weird for the boy to hear Jeno say he had a crush on someone. He was almost a tad jealous but he shook his head quickly and ignored the feeling. They were just friends after all.

Jeno🤗  
What are we doing tonight?

Jaemin looked at his phone and sighed. They both had filthy rich parents but something about the adventure and money that wasn't from their parents, excited him and he knew Jeno felt the same.

Jaemin   
do you want to try a new club?

The whole underground gambling was of course Jaemin's idea but most of the games were made up by Jeno, the good ones anyway. 

They had gotten a little bit of fame here and there for the amount of money their awards were worth. No one ever won of course, except for that one time. The small raven haired boy saw through their tricks and it excited Jaemin, someone new. 

Jeno🤗   
There's this one downtown

Jeno🤗  
It's really nice, but there's a code to enter at the door

Jeno🤗  
I could ask Mark to get it from one of his friends

Jaemin  
That's fine

Jaemin walked to his house, trying not to think too hard about the whole crush thing. 

"Were you at Jeno's?" His butler asked when he entered the house.

"Yeah, we're going out again tonight." Jaemin said walking up the stairs, his butler following next to him. 

"But sir, you went out twice this week already. Why do you need more money?" The butler asked worriedly.

"It's not about the money Agni, it's about the adventure and not being forced to be here playing piano or some dumb shit they'll make me do." Jaemin explained. 

"Sir, one day you're going to get in to a situation and you're not going to be sure what to do and you'll end up in a lot of trouble." Agni warned.

"Whatever, I'm taking a nap." Jaemin ignored his butler and ran to his room, hoping to get some rest before the night. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"We could probably set up over there." Jeno pointed to a table with his head. 

They were in a large back room to a club that was pretty popular. So hopefully, drunk rich people would be lead to the back of the club and they'd make shit ton of cash money. 

"Yeah but if we set up there. More people would see us." Jaemin pointed to a table, where a scary looking guy sat. His table was surrounded by people, watching him play some sort of game. 

"Um, that doesn't look like we'll be able to get to it soon." Jeno said nervously, worried Jaemin will try something. 

"Of course we can. We just have to make a little bet." Jaemin ran off to the table, leaving Jeno standing there. 

Jeno ran after him, getting more intimidated by the man sitting down as they got closer to him. He looked angry and Jeno knew he wouldn't be able to protect Jaemin if the boy pushed the wrong buttons.

They pushed through the crowd together, until they got to the front and saw a very familiar boy, sitting down calmly on the chair in front of the intimidating man.

His dark black hair was pulled away from his forehead with four white clips and he had a small smile on his face, watching the man with dark, knowing eyes. 

The man flipped his cards and everyone Oo'd, he looked at the little boy and smiled proudly. 

Renjun flipped his cards that had everyone cheering, he sat on his seat, enjoying the usual victory.

"Viktor, that's the third round you've lost. Pay up." Renjun stood up, gathering all the cards. 

"No, play me one more time, please." The man said, with a heavy Russian accent. 

"I don't have all day. Give me the money now, or you'll pay for it later." Renjun raised a threatening brow, the man sighed and pulled out a suitcase, handing it to the younger. 

Jaemin wondered how the boy could be threatening at all with his small physique and cute little face. 

"Thank you." Renjun smiled.

The boy turned around to leave the crowded place when he bumped in to the boys.

"Oh my god! Are you following me?" Renjun jumped back, surprised with the presence of the two. 

Jeno was about to say something when Jaemin interrupted, "Yes, we are." 

"Creeps." Renjun passed by the two, leaving the place. Jaemin looked back to where the scary guy was sitting, he had left and it was the perfect time to snatch the spot. 

"We can take the spot now." Jeno said distractedly, watching Renjun walk away.

"Why do that, when we can just see what he's doing." Jaemin chased after Renjun. Jeno sighed and ran after him again.

Jaemin walked to the other side of the room where the small boy was looking around.

"Hey, what are you up to?" Jaemin slid in front of him, making the boy jump again. 

"I'm working, go away." Renjun shoo'd Jaemin away. 

Jaemin continued to follow him, Jeno reluctantly behind him. 

"I swear to god, you wanna die." Renjun rolled his eyes, continuing to walk away. 

"Do you gamble every night?" Jaemin asked, curious as to why they ran in to him again. 

"Maybe, leave me alone." Renjun said. 

"How do you leave the house? And why do you gamble so much if you have money? Assuming you do, since you do go to school with us." Jaemin continued with questions.

"What do your parents even do?" Renjun turned around looking angered, with a small hint of nervousness. 

"Go away, before I tell your parents that you're out and about at midnight in some random strip club, gambling." The boy threatened.

"You wouldn't do that." Jaemin smiled.

"Try me." Renjun looked at him with aggressive eyes, testing if he could take it.

"If we're bothering you, we can leave." Jeno said, taking a hold of Jaemin's arm. 

Renjun moved his eyes to the shyer boy, grateful that he was taking the boy away. He couldn't stand more questions.

"We're not leaving." Jaemin loosened Jeno's grip on his arm. 

Renjun sighed and turned back around. He continued watching all the games that were being played, looking for the highest prize.

"Are you sure we should be following him? He's obviously bothered by it." Jeno whispered to Jaemin, as they walked behind him.

"Don't you have a crush on him? You should be a little more persistent Jen." Jaemin mentioned, making Jeno blush lightly.

The boy suddenly stopped at a table, where there was a couple of people crowded around. 

"How much is the bet on?" Renjun asked one of the spectators.

"10k each round, you can only win up to 40k but if you lose you pay the whole prize punishment, not worth the risk." The woman answered. Renjun smiled and observed the game. 

His smile faltered when he realized it was a game of craps, which was odd since the bet was so high but the rich are rich. He wasn't really a dice person, he definitely excelled with cards. 

Renjun groaned slightly in frustration, what a large bet, lost. He continued walking around until Jeno stopped him.

"Why don't you play, it's just craps." Renjun looked at the usually quiet boy with a raised brow. 

"I'm not very good with dice and if I lost that would be like 2/5 of 40,000. That's like..."

"16k." Jeno answered. He turned to look at the table and back to Renjun. 

"I could play for you if you'd like." Jeno offered shyly. 

Renjun nodded but took interest in the boy, "No, that's fine. I'll just find another game." 

"No, I insist. You can have all the money." Jeno tried, taking Jaemin's 'advice' on being more persistent. 

"Well...I guess." Jeno smiled. Jaemin looked between the two, not knowing how to feel. 

"I promise it'll only take a second." The boys walked back to the table and watched the man play a 7, paying the 16k with slight annoyance.

"Next." The dealer said.

Jeno took the dice and looked over at Renjun, "Watch." 

Renjun smiled and watched as Jeno played around with the dice in his hand. He waited for the dealer to turn the puck around, back to black.

"First throw." The dealer said. 

Jeno shook the dice in his hand for a bit, and landed on a 7. 

"Congrats, that's 10,000." The man handed him a stack of cash.

Jeno looked back at the younger, who was impressed, "11 or 7?" 

"11." Renjun answered. 

Jeno popped his knuckles and asked to go again, he felt the dice in his hands and released them softly on the table. Landing on an 11. 

"Well isn't it your lucky day." The dealer handed him another 10k. 

"What now?" Jeno asked getting more confident. 

"Two 4's, after each other." Renjun tested. 

Jeno threw the dice on the table, landing on two 2's. The dealer moved the puck to the four and then he threw a 3 and a 1. 

"That's another 10k." The dealer handed him a stack, astonished. 

"8, 5, 4, 8." Renjun gave a list of numbers but the boy wasn't phased, he threw all of them and won the last bit of money.

Jeno turned back to Renjun, who was surprised. He didn't think the rich boy could pull it off. 

"Here." Jeno handed him 4 stacks of 10k. 

Renjun took the stacks and stuck them in his raggedy backpack. "How do you control the dice?" 

"Practice." Jeno shrugged, getting shy again now that the game was over.

"So you're the skills of the operation?" Renjun guessed. "And you...talk a lot?" Renjun pointed at Jaemin.

"Hey!" Jaemin frowned. "We're a team, not all of us are as pretty as you and can fool people with little clips." 

Renjun blushed and tore the clips out of his hair, "Shut up, my mom makes me wear them." 

"Your mom?" Jaemin questioned. Renjun's eyes widened a little as soon as he realized his mistake. 

"Uh yeah...thanks for the money. I've got to go." Renjun shoved his clips in his backpack. The boy turned to leave but Jaemin followed him anyway.

"We can give you a ride." Jeno offered, seeing the boy uncomfortable.

"That's fine. I'm taking the bus." Renjun declined the offer.

"The bus?! You should just come with us." Jaemin tried again.

"It's fine, really." Renjun headed to the front of the club.

"Then I guess we'll go with you." Jaemin shrugged, following the boy. 

Renjun sighed, he wasn't used to so much company, he liked being alone.

"Well if you're coming anyways, just give me a ride." Jaemin smiled and nodded, texting his driver.

The walked to the front of the club and waited outside. 

"You should teach me your magical dice ways one day." Renjun mentioned as they waited.

"Oh yeah. Of course." Jeno smiled, happy that he would be seeing him again. Jaemin scowled slightly at the two but he couldn't help thinking they were cute together.

"There's the car! Let's go." Jaemin interrupted. 

The three walked to the limo, ducking inside, the boys sandwiched Renjun in the middle.

"You should tell us what club you're going to next week, so we can 'accidentally' run in to each other again." Jaemin tried, making Renjun roll his eyes. 

"It wouldn't be accidental then. I'll see you when I see you." Renjun shrugged as they pulled up to his mansion, probably not as big as where the boys lived but still something magnificent. 

"Bye!" The boy jumped over Jaemin and ran in to his house.

Jeno and Jaemin stared at each other, wondering if they were both thinking the same thing. 

Jaemin got up, closing the border between the driver and the back seat. He sat back down and waited for Jeno to do something.

Jeno looked at the boy for a second and pulled him on his lap, their lips immediately smashing in to each other's.

Jeno laid Jaemin down in the backseat roughly, the two tugging at each others hair.

"Are you still thinking about him?" Jaemin said a bit breathlessly, as Jeno kissed down his neck. 

"You were all over him, showing him how good you were with your hands." Jaemin smiled, knowing how it sounded.

"You were the one that was all over him. I saw him blush when he was talking to you." Jeno raised the younger's shirt up and off. 

They were both fast, used to each other's bodies. Jaemin felt the olders back, he couldn't remember when he started seeing him differently. 

They used to have play dates and play video games when they hung out, their nannies would take them out to eat icecream together. Now they had sex and gamble but it was really all the same, they were still friends and it was still fun. 

Jaemin couldn't really imagine a life without Jeno, which would be weird when they grew up but Jaemin wasn't one to dwell on the future. 

"We shouldn't do this in here, we'll get home any minute now." Jeno kissed down Jaemin's torso, he took Jaemin's shirt and put it back on him, making Jaemin pout. 

Jeno sat down, picking up his phone. He was a little out of breath and his black hair was messy. 

Maybe if Jeno has stayed looking cute and adorable, they would have the same old friendship they'd always had. 

But god, when Jeno went through puberty, it was impossible not to notice. It wasn't just Jaemin either, when the two turned 14, every single girl had started taking a liking to the quiet boy. Jaemin couldn't help himself from making a move. 

The car stopped and the driver knocked on the border, signaling that they're good to come out. 

They hopped out the car and walked up to Jaemin's front door, it was immediately opened by Jaemin's butler.

"Sir, it's almost 3 am!" He scolded softly, following Jaemin as he walked inside.

"Yes, I can read the time." Jaemin rolled his eyes, pulling Jeno to his room. 

"It's a school night!" His butler sighed. 

Jaemin got to his room and pushed Jeno in, "Goodnight Agni!" 

Jaemin shut the door and pushed Jeno on the bed, climbing in after him.

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	7. boring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"This is what you're going to do. Go to class and try your hardest to sit next to him. Once you do, offer him your homework and if that doesn't work, offer him a piece of gum. You'll look good either way." Donghyuck said, the blonde hair boy taking the information in.

"What if neither of those work?" Chenle panicked. 

"Compliment his shoes. Boys are in to shoes and he's a sporty boy, he'd like that." Donghyuck pulled the boy in and gave him a big kiss on the forehead.

"You'll do great. I'm so proud." Donghyuck fake cried. Renjun rolled his eyes and gave his younger brother a hug.

"Have a good day!" Renjun waved at Chenle as he walked in to the school. 

The two sat back in to Donghyuck's car after dropping Chenle off.

"Sooo...if we're not going to school, what are we doing then?" Donghyuck sat excitedly, ready for the day.

He waited for Renjun to answer but his question was followed by silence. He looked at Renjun to see he had fallen asleep.

"Renjun!" Donghyuck stirred the older up.

"What?" Renjun groaned. 

"What are we doing today!" Donghyuck asked again, slightly exasperated. 

Renjun rubbed his eyes, trying hard to stay awake, "I'm gonna go home and sleep."

Donghyuck groaned, "That's boring! What am I supposed to do!" 

Donghyuck watched the boy fall asleep slowly, not paying attention to anything he was saying.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes and texted his driver, telling him to stop at Renjun's house. 

They got to the boys house and Donghyuck stomped out the car annoyed. He saw Sicheng sitting on the outside patio upstairs.

"HEY!" Donghyuck waved his arms around.  
Sicheng looked up from his book and looked down.

"YOUR BROTHER'S SLEEPING IN MY CAR!!" Sicheng nodded and went inside.

Donghyuck wondered what he would do the rest of the day. Renjun was his only friend and he was always sleeping. 

Sicheng exited the house, going straight for Donghyuck's car. He dragged Renjun out and lifted him up, he seemed used to it.

"Thanks for bringing him." Sicheng smiled and went inside. 

Sicheng was very mysterious to Donghyuck, he was the prettiest boy but he was always so quiet. He was a lot like Renjun, even if they weren't blood related.

"Drive to the mall." Donghyuck told his driver, he'd been shopping many times that week but it was the only thing to do.

"Mr. Lee!" The store clerks eyes lit up as the boy walked in. 

She ran over to the boy, leaving the customers she was working with alone. They looked at Donghyuck snootily but Donghyuck ignored them, their clothes were totally last season anyway.

"It's finally come in!" She whispered to Donghyuck excitedly. 

"Really? That was way faster than expected, it's only been 5 months." Donghyuck raised a brow, surprised the bag was in Seoul. 

"Only the best for you! Let's go!" Donghyuck followed the cheery store clerk, she grabbed keys from behind the counter and walked to the back of the store, opening a door. 

Donghyuck looked in and saw a dark set of stairs. He went in front of the woman, who closed the door behind them, using a flashlight to light the way. 

They got to the door at the end and the woman unlocked it with another key. The door opened to a long hallway filled with dimly lit, golden framed portraits of the Hermès family. 

She got to the portrait of Thierry Hermès and moved it to the side. A small vault being revealed, she unlocked it with a third key and Donghyuck looked over her shoulder in anticipation. 

The vault held a bigger, fancier key, that she took out, making sure to fix the frame. Donghyuck raised a brow, wondering when they were getting to the bag. She went to the end of the hall and crouched on the ground, feeling the floor, her eyes lit up when she felt something. 

"Okay, this is the big moment." She shoved the key in to a key hole in the ground, the wall split in half, revealing the diamond bag surrounded by lasers. The woman put in a code on the wall, turning the lasers off. 

The two walked to the bag excitedly, they both viewed it, too scared to touch it. 

"It's gorgeous." Donghyuck wiped his eyes, stopping them from tearing up. 

"I know." The clerk said, having the same reaction.

Donghyuck picked up the bag and observed it, "You are now the owner of The Mouawad 1001 Nights Diamond Purse. It contains 4517 diamonds, 105 of them yellow, 56 pink and 4356 colorless. But of course you know that."

Donghyuck nodded, looking at every shining diamond, "And that means you're also the owner of the most valuable purse in the world, a whole 4.2 million dollars." 

The woman looked amazed as she eyeballed the purse, she handed Donghyuck a bag to put it in. Donghyuck giggled in excitement, the whole world was about to be jealous of him. 

"Thank you so much! How'd they even get it here?" Donghyuck questioned as she locked everything up again.

"The recent owner in Hong Kong died and you were the highest bet." Donghyuck nodded, proud of himself. 

They walked upstairs with the bag hidden inside a shopping bag. He would present it at a party and then he'd be on so many magazines covers the next day.

They had the stores bodyguards walk Donghyuck to his car, he slipped in and giggled excitedly. He wanted to text Renjun about it but he knew he'd be asleep. 

He got home and ran inside carefully with the bag, "MOTHER!!" 

He walked in to their grand living room where his mother was getting a massage and a mani-pedi by various ladies.

"Mom! Guess what I got." Donghyuck sing-songed. 

"What'd you get beautiful?" His mother murmured, her face stiff because of a clay mask. 

Donghyuck took the bag out of the bag, throwing the shopping one on the floor. 

"Look!" Donghyuck's mom opened an eye and gasped when she saw the Diamonds. She stood up quickly, disturbing all the masseuses.

"How in the world! I bet 3.9 million on this just a couple months ago!" His mother gasped, taking it from the boy delicately. 

"Well, I bet 4.2." Donghyuck smiled smugly. 

His mother hit him in the arm, "I can't believe my own son beat me to it. I'm so proud." 

Donghyuck smiled, "Anyway, time to add it to the collection. Kisses!" He blew a kiss to his mom.

She caught it and laid back down, "I'm going to have a closer look later." 

Donghyuck nodded and went upstairs to his room, walking in to his bag closet. He set it in the middle of the closet, where there was an empty space he had been saving just for it.  
He stepped back and looked at his closet, sighing in satisfaction. 

Donghyuck stood there for a second longer, his smile disappearing, "Ugh, I'm bored again!" 

The boy stomped to his room and threw himself on his grand bed. 

"Why can't anything interesting happen!" Donghyuck sighed. As if almost on cue, a phone rang, a text notification popping up.

Na Jaemin   
Mind giving me Renjun's number? 

Donghyuck hummed, happy to be entertained. He forgot he had Jaemin's number but he'd known the boy since they were little, so it wasn't surprising.

Donghyuck   
Why?

Na Jaemin   
Bc I want it

Donghyuck rolled his eyes at his phone. Renjun was not one to give his information out freely. 

Donghyuck   
What are you going to ask him?

Na Jaemin   
can you pls pls just give it 

Donghyuck   
Tell me firsttt

Na Jaemin   
I just wanna talk 

Donghyuck wondered what about, maybe he wanted to know more about Renjun's gambling skills. 

Donghyuck   
Ok but give me something in return 

Na Jaemin   
Like what?

Donghyuck   
Idk, think of something or no Renjun

Na Jaemin  
I can set you up on a date with one of my friends

Donghyuck   
Ew no, I'm richer than all of them

Na Jaemin   
Wtf then 

Na Jaemjn   
OOOoooo

Donghyuck   
What?

Na Jaemin   
I'll give you Mark's phone number

Donghyuck blushed slightly while reading the text, he immediately started typing away.

Donghyuck   
I don't want his number!

Donghyuck   
Whatever just take it 

Donghyuck   
(***)***-****

Na Jaemin   
Thx 

Na Jaemin   
tell me if you change your mind 😉

Donghyuck   
🙄

He threw his phone on the couch in the room, cursing Jaemin in his head. A thought popped in his head, if Jaemin was contacting Renjun, they must be going out at night AND IF Donghyuck was with Renjun, HE would be going out at night. 

Donghyuck texted his driver, running downstairs and hopping in the car. 

"Head to Renjun's." The driver nodded and drove to the familiar house. He hopped out the car and ran in to the house, unlocking it with a key he stole from Renjun.

He passed the kitchen, then walked back, noticing Bao standing with 6 bulky men in front of her.

"IT WAS A SIMPLE DEAL! But of course all of you are to idiotic to get it through your head!" Donghyuck's eyes widened, scared by the Chinese woman. He ran up the stairs and ran in to Renjun's room, throwing himself on the bed Renjun was sleeping on. 

The boy stirred in his sleep, opening his eyes slightly to look at Donghyuck.

"What are you doing here." The boy sat up scratching his head then stretching. 

"I'm bored." Donghyuck shrugged.

Renjun rubbed his eyes and reached for his phone, "It's only 3 pm."

Renjun scrolled through his phone, his eyebrows furrowing the more he did.

"Donghyuck..." Renjun said slowly. The boy looked at him innocently, "Yeah?" 

"Did you give Jaemin my number?" Renjun rose a brow. Donghyuck nodded, pretending to know nothing of it. 

"That means you did." Renjun groaned and shoved his phone in front of Donghyuck's face. 

"Look at how many messages he's sent!" Renjun scrolled down all his notifications, all of them being from the boy.

"Whoops." Donghyuck laughed awkwardly. Renjun rolled his eyes and started typing away. 

After a minute or two Renjun was still typing and Donghyuck wondered what was going on.

"What's he saying?" Donghyuck asked. Renjun turned his phone off and placed it on his night stand. 

"He's trying to find out where I'm going tonight." Renjun rolled his eyes. 

"Why don't you tell him?" Donghyuck questioned.

"Because Donghyuck, if you forgot, I'm incredibly antisocial!" Donghyuck oh'd.

"But didn't they make you money the other day?" Donghyuck remembered what the boy had told him a couple days ago.

"I can make money by myself." Renjun got back under his covers, cuddling in to them and closing his eyes. 

They sat in silence, until Renjun's phone started buzzing endlessly.

"Ughhh!" Renjun groaned. 

"Honestly, you should just invite them, so that I have an excuse to go and not seem as annoying." Donghyuck smiled.

"Is that really why you gave him my number?" Renjun rolled his eyes. 

"Um...yes. I wanna go, I've been with you before and it was fine." Donghyuck tried.

"Actually, you got lost and got your Cartier stolen." Renjun reminded him.

"Yes BUT we know the person who did it now. So everything's fine." Donghyuck poked at Renjun.

Renjun looked at him and sighed for the 50th time, "Ok, only because we haven't hung out all week." 

Donghyuck cheered and Renjun texted Jaemin back.

𖧷𖧋𖧷

The boys laid around doing nothing until dark, Renjun falling asleep every so often.

"So, what's happening?" Donghyuck asked as Renjun put 10k in his backpack. 

"We're going to this club and it's not on the fancy side, so if you're thinking of bringing that Louis, don't." Renjun pointed to the bag.

"Why can't we go to a rich club? I'm missing out on blackmail I can have on peoples parents." Donghyuck whined.

"Bao said the gambling is serious, and what Bao wants, she gets." Renjun rolled his eyes, they stepped out of his room and down the stairs. 

They were about to walk out the house when Bao called them from the kitchen. Renjun sighed and went to her.

"Hey baby, are you going where I recommended?" Bao smiled, she was sitting at a table with 5 big scary looking men, they were playing a game.

"You mean where I have to go? Yes." Renjun answered. 

"Aw, don't be so bitter. You're just so good at what you do!" Bao chuckled. 

Donghyuck looked between the two, their dynamic was weird. 

"Bye mom." Renjun turned around and pulled Donghyuck with him.

"Parenting must be so difficult for you, 3 children is a lot Ms. Huang. I praise you." One of the big men said as they walked out. 

They got to the club and saw three boys standing in front of it. 

"Hey! What's he doing here?" Donghyuck pointed at Mark

"What am I doing here? You're the one that has no business here whatsoever." Mark scoffed. Donghyuck scowled at him.

"So I was thinking we could bribe the bouncer, he probably doesn't get paid much." Jaemin started planning.

"It's fine. I got it." Renjun walked up to the bouncer, he took his I.D out and waved it in front of his face. He looked at it and let them in.

"The fuck? What's on the card?" Mark questioned, as they walked in.

"Just like fake I.D stuff that also makes me look rich." Renjun lied, shrugging.

"We need to get some of those." Jaemin nodded, tapping Jeno on the shoulder.

Mark hummed, not believing a word he said. 

"We should set up around there." Jeno said, pointing next to the most crowded table. 

"Sounds good." The group walked to the table. 

"See ya later." Mark excused himself, going his own way. 

"What's he doing?" Donghyuck asked, watching the boy disappear in to the crowd. 

"We all have our own ways of making money." Jaemin winked.

Donghyuck looked at Renjun to see if he understood what they were saying but Renjun wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was looking around the room, wondering where the best bet was.

The raven-haired boys eyes lit up when he found his perfect table. 

"I'm going to head over there. I'll see y'all later." Renjun walked away. Donghyuck followed after him, pushing through a crowd.

"Soooo...show me your tricks!" Donghyuck chirped as Renjun put his clips in. 

"There aren't tricks. I'm going to watch this dude for like 3 rounds, check if he's cheating or to pick up his strategy and then I'm gonna play and win." Renjun shrugged. 

He observed the man and Donghyuck followed along but didn't understand what the fuck was going on. 

"Uh...I don't get it." Donghyuck whispered. 

"You don't have to." Renjun focused on the game.

"I'm bored. I'm going to look around." Donghyuck sighed and walked away.

"Don't get lost." Renjun muttered, not really paying attention.

Donghyuck walked to the bar even though he knew he wasn't drinking and sat down, looking at his surroundings.

He thought the experience would be fun but he forgot Renjun was never one to lighten up. 

Donghyuck laid his head on the bar and caught a glimpse of Mark talking to a girl across the bar. 

He was smiling at her, it was the first time Donghyuck had seen Mark actually smile.

It was a charming smile, it was obvious he was flirting with her, and the smile helped, it suited him.

Donghyuck watched them, the girl was giggling wildly at something he had said. For some reason Donghyuck felt the need to roll his eyes but he didn't understand why.

While she was laughing Donghyuck noticed him move his hand to her leg but he retracted it quickly without her noticing. 

He sat up to see why, and he saw a golden bracelet in the boy's hand that he slipped quickly in to his sweater. Mark said something to the girl and walked away. 

"I saw that." Donghyuck followed after him as he passed by.

Mark shrugged, "What are you gonna do about it." 

"Nothing." Donghyuck scoffed. "But don't you feel like an asshole?" 

Mark looked at the boy and rolled his eyes, "Nope, her daddy will buy her a new one." 

They walked to the back of the club, where the private lap dancing rooms were.

"What's your problem? You're not even sure she has money." Donghyuck frowned.

Mark sat down at a table and emptied out his pockets. He had jewelry, wallets and spare change, "She's obviously a stupid rich girl that was bored and came to a club that was easy enough to get in to and saw me and decided she wanted me to be her bad boy that she met the one night she decided to go 'crazy'." 

Mark continued to observe all his items..

"It still doesn't make it okay." Donghyuck muttered. Mark only shrugged. 

"Lee! I know you're in here!" Mark's head shot up at the voice. He gathered everything back in his pockets and stood up, looking out the curtain slightly.

"Who's that?" Donghyuck asked loudly. Mark put his hand over Donghyuck's mouth immediately, then put a finger on his own mouth to quiet him.

"We need to hide." Mark whispered. Donghyuck nodded not understanding a thing that was going on. 

Mark peeked out the curtain again and dragged Donghyuck out, running silently out the back to where the games were. 

"There he is!" Mark heard, he dragged Donghyuck in to the bar and ducked down, hiding from everyone. 

Mark heard a ton of footsteps walk past them and sighed in relief. 

"What the fuck was that." Donghyuck whispered, hugging his knees.

"That dude's been following me for a couple weeks. I think he was hired by some girls dad I stole from." Mark shrugged, he peeked over the counter and when he saw the coast was clear he went back under.

"We should go." Mark said.

"We?" Donghyuck raised a brow. 

"Well, are you gonna stay behind the bar the whole time?" Mark explained.

Donghyuck looked around and blushed, realizing it would be weird if he stayed there.

Mark picked him up and they walked together, "I'm gonna wait for them across the street." 

Donghyuck nodded, "Ok." 

They stood in front of each other awkwardly. Donghyuck realized he didn't remember where he left Renjun and the only person he knew was in front of him.

"Can I go with you?" Donghyuck asked shyly. 

"Uh, yeah." Mark led the way out of the club, they walked silently across the street and sat in a run-down diner. 

Mark pulled everything out of his pockets again and placed it on the table, "I could probably sell all of this for a couple hundred dollars."

Mark observed the items again and Donghyuck picked them up to get a closer look.

"Oo this is a Versace Gold Greek Key Ring." Donghyuck handled the ring carelessly then threw it on the table. 

"What does that mean?" Mark questioned. 

"It means it's a Versace Gold Greek Key Ring. It's only like 225, I believe." Marks eyes widened. 

"Really? I could sell it for like a 100 dollars then." Mark shoved the ring in his pocket.

"Okay, how much is this other stuff?" Mark picked up the bracelet and placed it in front of the younger. 

Donghyuck picked it up and examined it, "It's a Hermes, which by the way, only there bags are worth buying." 

"Who cares, how much is it?" Mark rushed. 

Donghyuck examined it more, "I think this is the Hermes Clic H Bracelet in Blanc, which is almost 1k, about 600 I think." 

Mark smiled brightly, "Maybe your brattiness can be used for something after all."

"Hey!

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	8. golden boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Then my mom told me I couldn't throw parties in the yacht anymore because the 'steering wheel was broken off too many times'." Changbin complained, eating the food his butler had brought him.

"Well we can't have it at my house, my parents are throwing a dinner party this weekend." Felix sighed, rubbing his face with his hands aggressively.

"Bro, we can't have a lame ass party. Did you see Yeogang's last party! We HAVE to be the best private school to throw parties." Yangyang said passionately.

"Wait, why can't we throw a party at Jaemin's house again?" Lucas asked, chewing on food.

"Because my house gets too trashed and last time it took a week to clean my pool out." Jaemin mentioned for the 3rd time.

The boys sat in the middle of the cafeteria where everyone could take a peek at them. They had been trying to plan a party for a couple of days after they had been challenged by another school for best party. 

"That means we'll have to ask to borrow someone's house." Changbin thought. "But who?" 

The boys looked around the cafeteria, trying to spot someone, "What about Yuqi? She seems nice enough to let us." Jeno said. 

"Nah, I've been to her house, her pool's tiny." Lucas rejected the idea.

"Why have you been to her house?" Yangyang questioned. Lucas wiggled his eyebrows and Yangyang grimaced in disgust.

"Who has the best house at this school?" Felix looked around the cafeteria, along with the other boys. 

Changbin snapped his fingers, the perfect idea forming in his brain, "Lee Donghyuck!" 

"You're right. I went there when I was like 5 and I swear to god everything was gold." Felix nodded in agreement. 

"What'd I miss?" Hyunjin sat down at the table, with a garden salad and a Diet Coke.

"We need to convince Lee Donghyuck to let us use his house." Yangyang caught the boy up.

"Ew, why him. We've had beef since we were in kindergarten. He used to rip the heads off all my Barbies." Hyunjin rolled his eyes. 

"Once he stepped on my foot to get over a puddle and then threw a 100 dollar bill at me." Lucas shrugged. 

"Yeah, doesn't he pay people to carry his bags with gloves on to class?" Yangyang mentioned.

"Okay! Who cares. He's still rich as fuck and if we could throw a party at his house, it would be the best party ever." Changbin nodded, the rest of the group following along.

"We should ask then." Jaemin said standing up. 

"Wait what? Now! We need to prepare for the situation." Felix panicked.

"Donghyuck's nice, it'll be fine." Jeno said. The table silenced and then bursted out in laughter. 

"We'll bribe him when he says no." Jaemin reassured. The others nodded and stood up after him. 

"There'd be nothing we could bribe him with other than slave labor." Hyunjin rolled his eyes. 

Jaemin smiled mischievously and the boys walked to the infamous room. They stood in front of the door, waiting for someone to knock.

Jaemin looked at all the boys, who waited on him to do something, he sighed and knocked on the door. 

The door was opened by a petite woman, "Hello, could we talk to Lee Donghyuck?" 

The woman looked at him and closed the door in his face. They waited a second and looked at each other in confusion.

The door opened again and she ushered them in, putting a finger to her mouth to keep them quiet. 

The boys stepped in to the room that was steamy and smelled of oils. The lights were off and a dim pink glow filled the room. 

Donghyuck was sitting in the middle of the room with a robe on, several woman surrounding him, painting his nails and toenails. He had cucumbers on his eyes and he laid peacefully.

The woman shook him slightly and he groaned. 

"Sir, there's people here to see you." The woman said.

"Tell them I'm not here." Donghyuck muttered. 

"Sir, I already let them in." Donghyuck groaned again and sat up, the cucumbers falling on the floor. 

Donghyuck looked at the big crowd of boys and rose a brow. 

"What do you want, Jaemin and friends?" Hyunjin scoffed from the back of the group, Changbin slapped him on the arm. 

"You must've heard of Yeogang's party a couple of weeks ago." Jaemin said.

"Nope, I don't keep track of lame things like that." Donghyuck looked at his nails, that one of the ladies had finished. 

"Ok well, they threw a party and one of our many titles as a school is that we throw the best parties." Jaemin paused to see if the boy was listening, Donghyuck waved his hand for him to continue. 

"With their most recent party, they one upped us and now we're getting trash talked and we need to throw a huge ass party to make up for it." Jaemin finished with a smile.

"Okay? And why does this involve me?" Donghyuck sat up, raising an eyebrow.

"We wanted to ask a small favor of you. Keep in mind that we've known each other for a very long time and we never forget to invite you to every party we thr-"

"We need your house." Hyunjin interrupted.

The group looked at him, ready to slap him out of existence. 

"Yes, that's where I was getting too." Jaemin said through gritted teeth. He turned back around and smiled at Donghyuck.

"We would really appreciate if we could use your residence and you wouldn't even have to help us throw the party, we'd do everything!" Jaemin clasped his hands together. 

The boys looked at Donghyuck and waited for an answer.

"Nope." Donghyuck nodded.

Hyunjin groaned and Donghyuck shushed him quickly, pointing to a futon at the side of the room that was full of blankets and pillows, a big lump in the middle. 

"Renjun's sleeping and if you wake him up I'll destroy you." Donghyuck said seriously.

"You can leave now." The boy smiled, the woman packed up going past the boys and Donghyuck waved them away when they didn't follow. 

"Look Donghyuck, you're pretty well known in other schools, imagine people thinking that the school you go to isn't worthy." Lucas added. 

"It isn't." Donghyuck shrugged.

"What if...I happened to invite a special someone that would definitely show up if you'd do us this favor." Jaemin said mischievously.

"Uh, are you inviting Kim Hyuna or something?" Donghyuck questioned.

"No but I have the 2nd best thing!" 

"Beyoncé?" 

"No, how about.....Mark Lee!" Jaemin smiled.

"Why would I care if Mark came?" Donghyuck scoffed defensively.

"Didn't you hang out the other day? I thought you had something going there." Jaemin questioned.

"What? No, shut up." Donghyuck's face started to redden. 

"Oh really? I guess it was all in my head." Jaemin shrugged. 

"We'll stop bothering you then." Jaemin turned around.

"What? You gave up just like that?" Hyunjin asked.

"Wait." Jaemin whispered back, as the group walked out the door.

"Wait!" Donghyuck stopped them. Jaemin turned around and raised a brow.

"I'll let you use my house but you owe me big in the future." Donghyuck stated. Jaemin smiled and nodded excitedly, not thinking of possibly regretting it later.

"Thank you! I'll remember to invite Mark then." Jaemin smiled and waved as Donghyuck rolled his eyes. 

"Who's Mark?" Lucas asked as they were walking away. 

"A friend." 

By third period everyone had heard about the party since Yangyang was never one to stay silent. Everyone had been asking for an invite and all the boys could do was shrug.

Jaemin had a special someone he wanted to invite and he had found out what class he was in, to do it. 

"Hey Renjun...." Jaemin smiled at the boy as he walked in to the classroom during passing period.

Renjun was sat down, crossing his arms in the back of the classroom and rose a brow when he saw the boy enter. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"I'm here to say hi, do you not want to see me during school?" Jaemin pouted. 

"No, now what do you want? People are staring." Renjun slumped down in his seat to avoid people's eyes. 

"Did you hear about the little party we're throwing?" Jaemin asked, sitting on the boys desk.

"I don't go to parties." Renjun said flatly.

"I just wanted to invite you personally and it's not if you wouldn't have gone anyway. It's at Donghyuck's house." Jaemin mentioned, just in case he'd get rejected.

"Donghyuck's throwing a party?" Renjun questioned. 

"I bet it's going to be amazing. I heard he has diamond chandeliers in his backyard." A girl from another table said, a little louder than she meant too.

"That's what I'm trying to say." Jaemin smiled at the girl, her friends giggled at her as an obvious blush spread through her face. 

"And it'd be more amazing if you showed up." Jaemin said, turning back to look at Renjun. 

"Whatever, i'll think about it. Now leave, people keep staring at you like you're a kpop idol or something." Renjun pushed the boy away. 

"Bye Renjun." Jaemin blew a kiss at him and the girls giggled again. 

Jaemin ran out of the classroom and in to his own, right as the bell rung. He took his usual seat next to Jeno and winked at the boy who was looking at him curiously. 

"Where were you?" Jeno questioned. 

Jaemin wiggled his eyebrows, "I was inviting a certain someone to the party." 

"Oh... what'd he say?" Jeno asked disappointingly.

"He said possibly, which is better than a no." The boy smiled proudly.

"That's cool." Jeno crossed his arms subconsciously. 

"Are you jealous you didn't do it first?" Jaemin teased, noticing the boys behavior. 

Jeno nodded quickly, "No but you could've told me you were gonna do it. We could've asked him together."

Jaemin raised a brow, he suddenly felt guilty for asking him but the point was to get Renjun's attention first. Jeno should be more competitive if he liked him SO much. Stupid.

"Whatever, what do you wanna do after school?" Jaemin asked.

"I'm going home. I have a lot of homework to catch up on." Jeno shrugged.

"I can help with that!" Jaemin chirped.

"It's fine, I can do it by myself." Jeno focused his attention on the teacher as class started.

Jaemin frowned, did Jeno just purposely dodge hanging out with him. He'd never ever done that before, EVER. Maybe he really did have a lot of homework, after all they had been going out every night that week. 

Yeah, that must be it.

Jaemin looked at the boy, he was focusing on the teacher, looking silent and brooding like he always did. 

If he really did have a lot of homework, why did it still make Jaemin uncomfortable. 

That wasn't fun at all.

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	9. nervous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_   
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Jeno was pacing back and forth in his room. Just as he had mentally prepared to invite Renjun to the party, Jaemin had beaten him to it, he couldn't help but be slightly annoyed. 

But it was fine, he planned on asking the boy out on a date. A date. That is much better than a party but he'd never taken anyone on a date and he was very nervous to ask but he was devoted to do it today. 

He had to make a move before Jaemin. 

"Hey, I know you're probably busy and stuff but maybe we could do something sometime in the future......or something?" 

Jeno shook his head, "That's weird, that's definitely weird." 

The boy looked at himself in the mirror and shook his hair out of his face, he had to be confident and cool, like Jaemin.

Jeno smiled at his reflection, he's got this. He was confident and he believed in himself to do what he had to do.

The black haired boy ran down the stairs and in to the car. He gave Renjun's address to his driver, he would call him but he didn't have his number and he thought asking him straight up would be gentleman-y. 

Jeno was feeling confident the whole ride there until he found himself in front of the boys door. He felt his stomach knot up in nerves but he had to get past it. It was too late to go back now.

He rang the door bell once and waited. He expected a butler or something to open the door but no one got to it. He rang the door bell again and heard a voice yell something incoherent on the other side. 

The door swung open and a woman no older than 30 was standing in the door way. She had long straight dark brown hair and pretty almond eyes, she had glowing skin and she was making Jeno more flustered than he already was.

"Hello." The woman smiled, leaning on the frame, tilting her head in curiosity. 

"Hi! Uhm...is Renjun here?" He asked. 

"Why?" She questioned, which threw Jeno off guard. 

"I j-just wanted to talk to him." Jeno accidentally stuttered. She nodded slowly and brought her head inside the house.

"RENJUN!! THERE'S A BOY HERE FOR YOU!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. She brought her head back out and smiled.

"Who is it?" He could hear Renjun say from the other side of the door.

Renjun popped out from behind the door, his hair was messy and his eyes squinted from the brightness outside, he looked like he just woke up.

"Hey Jeno." He said rubbing his eyes, he looked around, searching for something else.

"Uh, Jaemin isn't here. I wanted to ask you something alone." Jeno fidgeted with his hands.

"Oh okay." Renjun waited. Jeno chuckled and looked over at the woman that was still standing there.

Renjun turned to face her and moved his head towards the door, signaling her to go away. She looked at him not getting the message, so he rolled his eyes and pushed her inside, closing the door behind him. 

"Sorry about that. What's up?" Renjun wondered. 

Jeno felt his heart beat faster, it was now or never, "I heard Jaemin invited you to the party and I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out anytime before then since that one time was cool, and I thought we got along well and you mentioned hanging out again in the future. Unless you were just being friendly then you could just say no or something, I won't be butt hurt or anything like that." 

Jeno stopped himself from continuing to ramble along for too long, which he was hitting the brink of.

Renjun blinked and nodded, "Yeah we could. I actually have somewhere to be tonight if you want to join. It's a new place downtown, I heard there were actual professionals if you wanted a challenge." 

Jeno's eyes brightened, "Yeah, of course." 

"Let me give you my number then." Jeno smiled as Renjun took his phone out of his pocket, handing in to the younger.

He wasn't really expecting to do something gambling related but at least he got to spend time with him alone. 

"I'll pick you up tonight then." Renjun nodded and went back inside his house. 

Jeno skipped in to his limo, sitting in the back happily, "Head home." 

Jeno couldn't help but smile as he was sitting down, he had to plan an outfit that made him look good but not too good to where it looked like he was a try hard. 

He got to his house and ran up to his room, opening the door and seeing Jaemin laying on his bed. 

"What are you doing here?" Jeno asked, out of breath and surprised.

"Do I suddenly need a reason to be here?" Jaemin raised a brow.

"Anyway, did you finish your homework?" Jaemin asked, smiling brightly like he always did and god, it never, ever failed to make Jeno's heart clench. 

He looked away and nodded, "Yeah." 

"Good, what do you want to do tonight then?" The boy threw his phone aside and sat up.

"I found a club on 8th, it's a little shady but Mark says there's always good deals there." Jeno hesitated to say anything.

"I don't think I wanna do anything tonight, we were pretty busy last week." Jeno rejected the idea.

"Okay, then we can have a night in!" Jaemin laid back down and patted the spot next to him. 

Jeno internally sighed, it was weird. It was definitely weird that him and Jaemin had been best friends for years and now they had this little thing going on that Jeno could never understand. 

But they were just friends. Friends. The amount of times Jeno had heard the word, was definitely more than enough to get the point across.

"Actually I have plans." Jeno held his breath while saying it. Of course he didn't owe anything to Jaemin, so then why did he feel so bad not doing everything he wanted? 

"Plans?" Jaemin questioned. Jeno nodded, he wouldn't let Jaemin distract him or keep him from going. 

"Without me? What are they?" Jeno walked over to his closet and looked at his clothes, he couldn't look Jaemin in the eye. 

"It's a date actually." Jeno muttered.

"A date? With who?" Jaemin sat up again in surprise. 

"Uh, I asked Renjun if he wanted to hang out and he said yea." Jeno scratched the back of his head shyly.

"WHAT! You're going on a date with Renjun!?" Jaemin crossed his arms and pouted. 

"That's not fair, I wanna go too." Jeno looked at Jaemin from his closet and his little pout was almost enough to let him come along. 

"You're the one that said it's fair game." Jeno shrugged instead, he changed shirts and looked at himself in the mirror. 

He heard Jaemin sigh and walk up behind him. "If you're going on a date you might as well actually dress nice."

Jeno raised a brow at him in confusion as he rummaged through his closet. 

"Wear this." Jaemin handed him straight black pants and a red shirt. Jeno took it hesitantly, Jaemin never failed to confuse him.

"And take this too." Jaemin wrapped a black belt around Jeno's neck. 

Jaemin walked out the closet and laid back on the bed, picking up his phone. 

Jeno stared at him weirdly and put the clothes on. He looked at himself in the mirror and nodded, of course Jaemin knew what he looked good in.

He walked out and Jaemin scanned his whole body, "You look good, I guess."

Jeno scoffed and Jaemin laughed, "I'm kidding, you look a whole snack, you should really start wearing belts, it snatches your waist so nicely." 

"Thanks." Jeno tried not to blush. "Uhm, I don't have to leave for a couple hours so I guess we could do something." 

"Are you trying to take me on a date before your date?" Jaemin raised a brow.

"What? No, I was just trying to hang out. Stop making things weird." Jeno huffed. Jaemin giggled and stood up.

"Let's get some coffee then." Jeno nodded and they walked out the room together. 

They went to a coffee shop and had a nice little lunch, they'd been getting stares from people but Jeno just assumed it was because Jaemin was around. 

"So what are y'all doing?" Jaemin asked, laying sideways on the comfy chair and sipping on his coffee. 

"We're going to this club." Jeno shrugged.

"A club?" Jaemin wondered. "He's kinda mysterious, I wonder why he goes out so much." 

Jeno thought in to it, he was quite mysterious. He knew nothing about the boy, but he would make sure to get to know him more today. 

"I'm gonna head over there now." Jeno said looking at the time on his phone.

Jaemin pouted, "Have fun I guess. Going on dates without me." 

Jeno rolled his eyes and waved at him, leaving before he dared to invite him. 

He got to his house fairly quickly but he waited across the street for a solid five minutes to prepare himself. Once the sun had set he pulled up on his driveway.

He knocked on the door and thought he would have to wait but Renjun came out immediately. 

"Let's go." He pushed Jeno to his car and hopped in immediately. They left his driveway and headed to the club. 

"Sorry, my mom's snoopy." Renjun apologized. 

"That's okay. Was your mom the woman from earlier?" Jeno asked, ready to learn more about him. Renjun nodded.

"She seems really young." 

"Yeah, I'm adopted." Renjun shrugged. He looked out the window and saw the line for the club. It was very close to his house which wasn't a surprise. 

They got out the car, Jeno looked like a model next to Renjun, who looked like he just woke up, wearing sweats and a sweater with his raggedy backpack. 

"I didn't know we were dressing up for this, sorry." Renjun noticed the boys outfit.

Jeno laughed awkwardly, he should've known this was casual, Renjun always goes out to things like this. 

They got to the door and Renjun showed him his i.d., the bouncer letting him inside.

"What do you have on that card? If you don't mind me asking." Jeno wondered, as he walked behind the smaller. 

"Uh, nothing important." Renjun dismissed the question. Jeno nodded and continued following him to the back of the nice club where there was another door, yet again guarded by a bouncer. He showed him his I.d, granting them immediate access and Jeno couldn't help but be curious. 

When they entered the room it was a lot nicer than most hidden gambling spots, since the whole point was that they were hidden. 

"This is actually fancy." Jeno pointed out, looking at all the people around them. 

"Yeah, let's find the highest betting table." Jeno nodded and started looking around.

"So why do you do this?" Jeno asked, as the boy was scanning the room.

"Why do you?" Renjun flipped it on to him. 

"Fun." Jeno replied. 

"Same here." Jeno didn't believe him but he wasn't going to try to get the truth out of him.

Jeno spotted the table with the most people surrounding it and brought Renjun's attention to it. 

The boys walked to it, pushing through the crowd and watched as 5 woman and a man played. 

"Poker." Jeno pointed out. Renjun nodded and watched in interest.

"I WIN AGAIN!" One of the girls cheered and took all the chips, the man grimaced and stood up from his seat annoyed. 

"Who wants to go next?" The woman in the middle asked, she was beautiful and intimidating.

"We'll go!" Jeno volunteered. Renjun looked at him with wide eyes and put his hand down.

"What are you doing?" Renjun whispered. 

"I thought you wanted to play." Jeno questioned. 

"Yeah, after observing them." Renjun said as if it was obvious.

"It's just poker." Jeno looked up from Renjun and realized all the girls were looking at them.

"Oh sorry, I take it back." The girls giggled.

"Aren't you just the cutest. You two seem a little young to be here." One of them said, looking at the two.

Jeno just smiled, making the girls coo at him. 

"Take a seat." The girl that had won the last round said. 

Renjun looked at Jeno with wide eyes and Jeno just mouthed a quick 'sorry'. 

"So are you two boyfriends?" The girl asked. 

Jeno nodded immediately, "No, we're just friends." 

"Aw but you're so blushy about it." The girls giggled again.

"Actually, Jeno brought me here to teach me how to play poker." Renjun said, in a suddenly cute voice.

"Really? You two just get more adorable by the second." Jeno looked at the boy in confusion but he went along with it. 

Manipulation was a good skill to have in these type of situations.

"I'm Yeri and this is Joy, Seulgi, Wendy and Irene." The girl with the brown hair introduced them. 

"Since you two are new to this, we'll start with a lower first bet. 20k." Irene said, she was the only one that wasn't cooing at the two.

"10k is all I brought." Renjun pouted, they definitely knew what they were doing and now that they had to play without observing them, being cute was the only thing Renjun had. 

"I'll pay for you." Jeno offered, bringing the girls to more aw's. 

"Make it 10k for them, Irene." Joy poked at Irene cutely. 

Irene rolled her eyes, "Fine."

"Okay, let's start." Renjun nodded, taking out his clips and pulling his hair back with them. Jeno smiled at him, wondering why he wore them but not being bothered at all with it. 

Joy squished Renjun's cheeks, "You are the cutest."

They passed two cards to everyone in the group, Renjun ending up with a 8 and a 10. Hopefully he could get a straight flush with that. 

"Call." Wendy said, moving her chips forward. 

"Raise." Seulgi added 5 more chips, adding 5,000 dollars to the bet.

The girls looked at the boys, wondering if they were going to continue but they both pushed their chips up.

Renjun had to win now, he was betting money he didn't have. 

"Hmm...raise." Joy added three chips to the pile, 3k. 

Renjun was slightly nervous, usually he was sure of his success but he was second guessing himself, he looked over at Jeno who looked calm as ever.

"Raise." Jeno added 6 chips in, bringing the total to 23k. The girls looked at him in surprise, Renjun just assumed he had really good cards.

It was Renjun's turn now and he wondered what to do. 23k was a lot of money to lose. 

He looked at Jeno who was giving him a thumbs up. 'Raise' he mouthed. 

Renjun put in 2 chips but Jeno kept moving his thumb up. He decided to just go for it and added 10 chips, Jeno must have something up his sleeve, "Raise." 

Renjun looked around the table, they stayed in silence until, "Ugh fold." 

Yeri put her cards down and Seulgi joined in. 

"Yeah fine." Joy folded. 

The bartender came, handing the girls big cups of beer and Irene a cigar. 

"Okay, next round!" Wendy cheered, putting her glass up.

The waiter, who seemed not be a waiter but actually worked for Irene, set 3 community cards down on the table. 

A 9, 10 and an 8. 

Renjun looked down at his cards again. The highest ranking Renjun could get with that was a 2 pair. 

"Start the bet boy." Irene eyed Jeno. He shrugged and added 6 chips. 39k.

Renjun bit his lip, they couldn't lose. He pushed his chips forward.

"Fold." Wendy put her cards down and took a beer. It was just Renjun, Jeno and Irene. 

It was Renjun's turn to place his bet. He bit his lip and was about to check when Jeno added another 13 chips in, Renjun looked at him with wide eyes.

"What's wrong with you! That's 104k for both of us!" Renjun whisper shouted. 

"It's okay, I got it." Jeno's stare had darkened and he looked Irene down. It was scary.

Irene only chuckled, "Your boyfriend is pretty confident." 

She added 15 of her own chips in, "Make that 134k for both of you." 

Everyone was quiet as her worker added the last community card, which was a 9.

All Renjun had with that was a full 2 pair and he hoped to god Jeno had something good.

"Last bet boys." Irene took a long hit of her cigar, Renjun looked at Jeno and Jeno smiled at him reassuringly. He took the last 10 chips out of each of their stacks and set them in the middle. 

174k they would owe if they lost.

Irene chuckled, "You really are confident. Then you wouldn't mind this." 

Irene added the rest of her chips, 30 of them. 204k.

Renjun bit his lip so hard it whitened. 

"Ready?" Irene asked. The boys nodded.

"1, 2, 3." They all flipped their cards. Renjun looked at hers, she had two 8's. 

Giving her a three of a kind, one rank above the two pair he had.

He lost. 

She smirked and Jeno cheered next to him. "Renjun you won!" 

The girls giggled at him, Renjun just sighed, they had to find a way to pay her 204k.

"Don't laugh. Even though Irene got a three of a kind, there was two 9's, one 10 and an 8." The girls and Renjun looked at him in confusion. 

"SO, with Renjun's 8 and 10 that gives him a double number consecutive triple. Which isn't in the basic rule book but is a hidden play, and is right above a three of a kind, making Renjun the winner." Jeno finished, the girls and Renjun looked at Irene's servant, who was searching it up.

He nodded, "He's right madam." 

The crowd, that had gotten way bigger since Renjun last noticed it, cheered. Jeno smiled and embraced Renjun tightly, picking him up. 

He realized what he was doing and dropped him, looking at him wide eyed, "Sorry." 

But Renjun didn't seem to notice, he was so shocked with everything that happened, all he could do was stand there. 

"Renjun..." Jeno poked his arm lightly. Renjun shook his head and came back to real life, he looked over at Jeno's hole cards, a 7 and an ace. Completely useless.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Renjun picked up his cards.

"These cards are useless!! WE COULD'VE LOST 204K!" Renjun threw them away.

Jeno smiled shyly, "I thought I could intimidate her in to folding and when she wouldn't fold we were already way too deep to dig ourselves out so I just kept going, but who cares, you won!" Renjun glared at the boy, that was the dumbest thing he'd ever heard.

"Well look at Mr. 'doesn't know how to play poker'." Irene smirked. The girls each handed them the stack of money they lost, Irene having the biggest. 

Renjun stuffed the money in his backpack, 210k. That was the largest amount of money he'd ever made. 

"Let's go before we get mugged." Renjun pulled Jeno by the hand and ran out the club. Holding his barely living backpack in front of him. 

They walked aimlessly down the sidewalk, quiet and tired.

"We can split the money in half, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have won." Renjun mentioned. 

"No that's fine, you can keep it but....you have to take me out for icecream." Jeno smiled, Renjun nodded and they walked to the closest icecream place that was open. 

Renjun ordered a small vanilla icecream and Jeno ordered a waffle cone with a scoop of chocolate and strawberry.

They gave the cashier a hundred dollar bill from Renjun's backpack and let him keep the change. 

"How are you so good at gambling games?" Renjun questioned. They sat on the sidewalk and enjoyed the night breeze.

"Actually." Jeno licked his icecream and smiled at the thought. 

"After Jaemin told me he wanted to like gamble and stuff, I became super obsessed with learning everything about it." 

"That's sweet. The brains and the smile." Renjun said, referring to Jaemin. 

"Yeah, his smile is a sight to see." Jeno could immediately picture it in his mind. 

"Are you guys like a thing or something?" Renjun asked, noticing Jeno's expression change at the mention of him.

Jeno's eyes widened, "No, no definitely not. We've been best friends since like forever." 

Jeno came to the conclusion that Renjun most likely didn't see this as a date if he thought he was with Jaemin but he had to make their friendship clear.

"Tonight was fun." Jeno said, picking the boy up by his hand.

"By fun you mean stressful." Renjun laughed. 

"Yeah, sorry about that." Jeno rubbed the back of his neck. "But fun enough to hang out another time?" Jeno asked quickly, his voice getting higher by the end of the sentence. 

"Yeah, definitely." Renjun smiled as they got in to his car. They got to Renjun's house and Jeno walked him to his door.

"Oh, your clips are falling out." Jeno took them out of the boys hair without thinking.

"Oh, thanks." Jeno handed them back to him and they stood in silence for a second. 

The door opened widely behind Renjun, "Hey! I'm Renjun's mother Bao."

Bao took Jeno's hand and shook it vigorously, "I'm Chenle!" 

Chenle said loudly, popping out from behind Bao, taking Jeno's hand with Bao's. Sicheng heard the ruckus and came to see what was going on. 

Renjun rolled his eyes, "Leave him alone!" 

Jeno laughed at the family, "I'm Jeno. It's nice to meet you." 

"Aw, aren't you sweet, unlike Renjun. Why didn't you introduce me to your friend earlier! The only person that stops by is Donghyuck." Renjun pushed them back inside. 

"Goodbye! See you at school." Renjun waved and closed the door.

Jeno smiled to himself and walked to his car. He couldn't suppress his smile all the way home. 

He thanked his driver like he did every night and walked to his room tiredly. 

He opened the door and noticed Jaemin sleeping on his bed.

He changed out of his clothes and climbed in next to him. Right as he got in, Jaemin nuzzled himself in to the boys chest and Jeno couldn't bring himself to push the boy away. 

He looked at the beautiful boy. He was so peaceful and perfect, how could he push him away? 

A part of him knew it was wrong, he liked Renjun, he really did but Jaemin was something that would always tug at him, always be there no matter how hard Jeno tried to push it away or at least rid it from his thoughts. 

He was Na Jaemin and Na Jaemin had his own category, his own little section in Jeno's heart, the most painful section of his heart. 

Jeno put his chin on his head and hugged him, pulling him closer, "I love you." 

The words hurt coming out of his mouth every time. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	10. family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Renjun hadn't been so ready for the end of the day in a while. Last night he had gotten stuck at a club till 5 am, threatening a dude when he didn't have his money. 

"You really can't stay up for more than 5 seconds, can you?" Renjun shot his head back up at Donghyuck's voice. 

"I'm sorry, were you saying something?" Renjun asked groggily. 

"God, you're a mess." Donghyuck grimaced at the sight of the boy. They got to the boys house and he had to help Renjun to his room. 

Once Renjun laid down, he immediately went to sleep. Donghyuck tucking him in and giving him a little peck on the nose. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Renjun woke up to complete darkness, he was confused and still tired but hungry enough to be able to actually wake up. He looked at the time and gasped. 

It was 2 am, he had overslept. 

He threw the sheets off himself and ran down the stairs. Heading towards the kitchen, finding Bao and Sicheng. 

"I'm sorry, I overslept. I know I was supposed to go out tonight." Renjun apologized, not noticing how he had interrupted their conversation. 

"It's fine!" Bao cheered, tripping over her feet, obviously drunk. 

"You made so much money last week, Junnie. You deserve a break." Bao patted the boys head. 

She looked at the two boys and smiled, "My two beautiful children. You're so grown up, I remember when you were this tiny." 

Bao crouched down and put her hand to her knees, almost falling at the process. Renjun helped her up, she giggled and squished his cheeks. 

"You're still my baby though and you'll always be my baby. Won't you?" Renjun nodded and looked at Sicheng, noticing his expression for the first time. 

Usually when he came back from doing what he did, he always seemed down, which Renjun totally understood. What Sicheng had to go through was more than Renjun could ever relate to. But today he looked mad and it was slightly worrying Renjun. 

"You'll always be my baby too, right?" Bao ruffled Sicheng's hair, to where he just removed her hand from his head. 

"I'll talk to you later, when you're not drunk and acting like a child." Sicheng rolled his eyes and walked away. 

Bao watched him leave and pouted, "Your brother hasn't been very nice lately." 

"Maybe he's just going through something right now." Renjun sat her down at the kitchen island. She laid her head on the table and smiled at him.

"How are you doing baby?" Bao asked.

Renjun shrugged, he was never one to talk about his day or his problems, especially not to his mother.

"What about that boy you were with. He was a cutie." Bao winked.

Renjun scoffed, "We're just friends. He's just a rich, basic boy from school." 

"Aw, that's not nice. Is he the one that gave you the money? Did you do something weird to get it." Bao suddenly gasped, her eyes widening.

"Ew mom! Shut up, I would never." Renjun grimaced. 

"I wouldn't judge you Renjun, we've all done crazy things for money." Bao frowned for a second, then smiled again.

"Anyway! I'm hungry, we should go somewhere." Bao thought up.

"It's 2 am."

"Let's get American food! They leave their stores open late!"

Renjun decided that going with her would be much better than letting her go alone so he followed along as she ran like an excited baby to their car.

He smiled at her, she was always so busy with who knows what, Renjun hadn't realized he missed her. 

Bao was only turning 29 and it was weird that such a young girl had raised him. They all had moved to Korea together the year that Bao found them, right before she had Chenle at the age of 17. 

"Cheese burgers!" Bao chirped as she read the menu to the crusty diner. They had money now and they still ate at cheap restaurants.

She ordered for the two of them, even though Renjun declined the food many times.

"You really are grown up now." Bao said as Renjun continued to decline the food in front of him.

"When you were a baby you used to eat every single thing I gave you." She smiled, while eating a fry. 

"But then again, we were starving." 

Renjun thought back to the days when he still lived in China but he was so young, he could barely remember anything. 

"I noticed you didn't get back till 5 the other day." Bao questioned.

"This guy didn't have my money." Renjun shrugged.

"Of course. I haven't seen you in action in a while, maybe next time I'll go with you." Bao wiggled her eyebrows.

When they moved to Korea, they lived in a tiny apartment only for a little while, before Bao had started making tons of money gambling. 

And when Bao started making more money they moved to the penthouse when Renjun was only 5 years old, learning her profession.

"No, I don't get it!" Renjun cried in to his hands, dropping cards everywhere.

"Don't cry Junnie." Bao rubbed the tears off his face. 

"Come with me." She took the boy's hand and brought him to the restroom, she stood him on the little stand so that he could look at the mirror. 

"Wash your tears." Renjun pouted but did what he was told. 

"Some things are going to be hard but you just need to try harder." Renjun sniffled and nodded. 

"Look at yourself and tell yourself you believe in yourself." Bao commanded.

Renjun frowned, "That looks dumb." 

"No it doesn't, now do it!" Bao attacked. Renjun sighed and looked at himself.

"I beliebe in you." Renjun said softly.

"Louder." 

"I beliebe in you!" He said a little louder, rolling his eyes. 

Bao smacked his head and Renjun's hands went straight up to his hair. 

"What you do that for!" He whined, "You're a meanie and I don't want to know how to use your cards!" 

"Take it seriously! For mommy." Bao pouted.

Renjun pouted back at her, only to receive a deeper pout back. 

"Ugh fine, you win. But only because you look ugly when you do that." Renjun stuck his tongue out at her and ran to the living room.

"You little..." Bao chased after him and tackled the boy, sending him to fits of giggles. 

"One day Renjun, it'll just be us and Sicheng and Chenle and we won't to worry about all this money stuff and we'll be free, trust me." Bao drifted away.

"What do you mean free?" Renjun questioned.

Bao ate a fry and shrugged, "I'm drunk."

Renjun sighed, "Okay then. You wanna go home now?"

Bao nodded, standing up and taking all her fries with her. 

"I can't believe your dating now, before Sicheng too." Renjun rolled his eyes. 

"I'm not dating anyone. I told you he's just a friend, plus I feel like he has tons of hoes on the side." Renjun shrugged, feeling a teeny bit hurt that that could be a possibility even though he completely made it up in his mind. 

"I mean, what man doesn't?" Bao laughed, as if speaking from personal experience. 

They walked a little without calling their driver, enjoying each other's company.

"Oo, look!" Bao brought Renjun's attention to a club that looked very active across the street. 

"They might not have gambling though." Renjun pointed out. 

"Trust me, these days it's too common." Bao took Renjun's hand and took him across the street.

"Okay, lend me your hoody." Bao stopped near the front of the club. Renjun took it off and handed it to her, she made sure to wear it where it was covering her face. 

"Let's go. Do you have your I.D?" Renjun nodded, they walked to the front of the line and Renjun showed his I.D to the bouncer, working like a charm.

"Now we just need to find where all the money is." They walked around the crowded club. Renjun crashing in to more sweaty bodies than he would've preferred. 

Bao walked to the back of the club, Renjun following after her. What a weird thing to do with the woman that raised you.

"I'm assuming you have some type of games around here." Bao asked, whispering to the bartender.

"Go back there and there's a door. Knock once, wait a couple seconds then knock twice quickly. The door should open." Bao nodded.

"Thanks." 

Bao walked towards the back of the club, Renjun following, they ran to the door and followed the instructions. 

A man opened a door revealing tons of games. Bao laughed in joy and grabbed a beer from a waiter walking by. 

"It is time." Bao chugged the beer and threw it to the side, running to the nearest table.

Renjun was grateful there was tons of people to hide his mothers actions. And even though Bao had said she wanted to see Renjun play, she was having all the fun.

"Another loss boys, a shame." Bao took the money and shoved them in to a backpack she had won from someone else when they had nothing else to give to her. 

The men rolled their eyes, annoyed, "Atleast let us see your pretty face, to keep you in mind for the future." One of them said. 

"Ah, that will have to be for another time." Renjun could hear Bao's confident smile that she always carried. 

She stood up, swinging the backpack over her shoulder, "Let's go home. I'm exhausted." 

Renjun nodded, he hadn't played a single game himself but he couldn't care less. He was supposedly on his 'day off'. 

"The deal is on Tuesday and she's supposedly going to be there. That's how big it is." Renjun over heard someone sitting at a large booth say. 

He kept walking, until he bumped in to Bao. She stopped and put a finger to her mouth.

"And how do you propose we'd kidnap her. She probably has a shit ton of body guards." One of the men pointed out. Renjun raised a brow at Bao in confusion but she ignored him, looking sober as ever, focusing in on the conversation.

"That's why we're here, aren't we?" Another man chuckled. Bao pulled Renjun in to the booth behind them, Renjun hadn't realized that standing there was probably weird.

"All of us have a good amount of men and I bet if we team up, we'd definitely have enough men to take on whatever she brings." The men all hummed in agreement. 

"And what about after. If Wei finds out we're all sure but dead." One of the men said, to which they all went silent.

"Like he cares, she's probably just another whore to him." The men laughed at the comment. 

Renjun looked over at Bao, she was looking at her feet, her face had gotten serious. One of the few times Renjun got to see it that way.

"Mom." Renjun whispered, she snapped her head up at him. Renjun looked at her in confusion but all she did was push him out the booth. 

"Let's go." She whispered urgently. Renjun obeyed and followed along as Bao pulled him out the club. 

The driver was already outside waiting for them. They got in silently and Bao's smile didn't return for the rest of the night.

"Take this. Thank you for waiting all night." Bao said, handing the backpack of cash to their driver. 

Their driver bowed, "Thank you so much m'am. It was no trouble at all."

She gave him a small smile, "Have a good night."

He nodded, "You too."

They went inside and Bao kissed Renjun on the forehead, "You should get to sleep too."

Renjun nodded and followed her upstairs. He watched her walk in to her bedroom and close the door behind her. 

He stared at the door, wondering what had just happened.

"I thought today was your day off." Renjun jumped at Sicheng's voice. He looked over to see him leaning on the doorway to his room.

"It is. I was just taking care of her." Renjun walked to his room.

"Right, like she needs to be taken care of." Sicheng scoffed. 

Renjun raised an eyebrow at him, "What's your deal."

Sicheng stayed silent, they stared at each other for a while. He seemed like he was debating whether to say something. 

"Nothing." He ended with a nod. "Good night."

"Night." Renjun gave him a small smile and closed the door to his room. Falling on to his bed and falling fast asleep.

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	11. party !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_ 
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Oh my god, it's bigger than I imagined." Yangyang said, as the group entered the house.

"Chocolate fountain!" Lucas shrieked and ran to the kitchen. 

"The chandeliers ARE real diamonds." Felix gasped, admiring them with Changbin. 

"It's alright." Hyunjin shrugged. 

"Anyway, thank you so much again for letting us throw a party at your house! You're the bestest." Jaemin clapped. 

"Right. Just remember I've already done two favors for you Na Jaemin, don't think they're free." Donghyuck squinted at the boy.

"Yes yes and Mark Lee will be attending, as promised." Jaemin smiled and skipped around the house.

"I don't care about Mark!" Donghyuck yelled after him.

It was a couple hours before people were supposed to arrive and the boys were preparing to set up. 

"So a couple things. No one is allowed upstairs, if anyone has sex on my bed I will sue you." Donghyuck said strictly, the boys just nodding along.

"All of my moms vases have to be moved somewhere safe and if you could use gloves while moving them, that would be great." Donghyuck smiled. 

"And make sure no one climbs on the gold family statue in the backyard." Felix's and Yangyang's eyes widened.

"You have a golden statute!" The boys ran to the backyard. 

Donghyuck rolled his eyes, "Anyway, you can go figure that out now." 

Donghyuck shooed then away and Jaemin was the first to stand up. 

"Okay, so I'l hire people to guard the stairs and you guys can start with the vases. Let's go!" They all stood up and started excitedly.

Jaemin walked around the house, looking around some more. Each case and piece of furniture could pay off someone's college tuition.

"What's going on?" Jaemin heard a familiar voice say from the stairs. 

He turned around to see a squinty eyed, messy haired Renjun walking down the stairs in confusion.

"Renjun!" Jaemin ran to him excitedly. 

Renjun raised a brow at the boy and walked down the rest of the stairs.

"Why are you guys here?" He asked in his post nap confusion.

"Remember that party you said you would come with me too? That's today!" Renjun nodded in realization.

"I never said that but ok." 

"Junnie, you're awake!" Donghyuck walked from the kitchen with Jeno. 

"Oh hey!" Renjun greeted, he flattened his hair, fidgeting with the ends.

"Hey, I haven't seen you all week." Jeno smiled, they got in to immediate conversation causing Jaemin to look between the two suspiciously. 

Donghyuck pulled Jaemin to the kitchen before he could butt in to their conversation.

"Oh my god, what's going on with them? Renjun fixed his hair for him! Did you see that?! He never does that." Donghyuck whispered, with a big smile on his face, peeking at the two at the stair case.

"There's nothing going on between them." Jaemin crossed his arms moodily.

"How does fixing hair mean anything?" Jaemin looked behind him to where they were talking, smiling at each other.

He felt the tad bit of jealousy grow a little more at the sight of the two. 

"Anyway!" Jaemin shouted, placing himself between the two, "Are you guys gonna help or are you just gonna stand here?"

"I'm definitely not helping but Jeno you should probably go." Jeno slapped Renjun's arm lightly, Renjun giggling at it. Jaemin looked between them again, feeling left out.

"Okay, let's get those vases put away." Jaemin pulled Jeno away, beginning to set everything up.

A couple hours later, everything was ready to go and people were arriving. Jaemin had dragged Renjun outside to the bar. 

"Renjun, since you're my date here. You have the amazing oppurtunity to try all my drink combos." Jaemin smiled, preparing something behind the bar. 

"Sadly, I don't drink." Renjun declined the offer.

"What?! Nope, not acceptable. You're at a party and you're my date. Drinking is a muST." Jaemin shook up something in his cup. 

"I still never agreed to this date thing." Renjun raised a brow. 

"Well you're here now, so try this!" Jaemin filled two cups up with the liquid. 

Renjun nodded his head and pushed the cup away. 

"Come on, peer pressure!" Jaemin pushed it back towards him. 

"Are you forcing him to drink?" Jeno walked to the bar, sitting next to Renjun. 

"nO, I'm just strongly insisting that he drinks." Jaemin stuck his tongue out at Jeno brattily. 

"Right." Jeno took Jaemin's drink and gulped it down. 

"It's good, you really should try it." Jeno insisted, hitting Renjun lightly with his elbow.

Renjun hummed and hesitantly took the drink in his hands, he took a sip and his eyes lit up in surprise.

"You're right, it is good!" Renjun nodded in agreement, Jeno smiled back at him.

Jaemin rolled his eyes, he was the one that had made the drink, yet he was giving all his attention to Jeno. 

"No thank you's?" Jaemin grumped. 

"Thank you Jaemin." Renjun took the drink and kept taking sips from it.

The party got bigger and more people started to gather, the three boys managed to stick together by that point.

It was weird for Renjun to see the boys interact with kids from his school. He'd forgotten they were actually pretty well known, he felt like they were also a part of his secret life that no one knew of.

"This is Renjun. He's my date." Jaemin said, to everyone who came up to him. Renjun had given up trying to correct him and just rolled his eyes.

"Bro, I thought you were dating Donghyuck?" Some guy Renjun had never seen before said.

Renjun shrugged, he could completely see why people thought that.

"So how much do you get paid?" A girl asked. Renjun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"For what?" 

"For hanging out with Donghyuck all the time. You must be showering in money." The group laughed, high-fiveing the girl.

Renjun frowned at the comment, "Watch your mouth, don't forget whose house you're in." 

The girl shut up quickly, the people laughing loud enough that they didn't hear it. Jaemin and Jeno looked at him with surprise. They didn't think the boy was capable of being threatening to some random girl.

"If I was this rich I'd be an asshole too." One of the boy's said, looking at the yard.

Renjun's frown stayed on his face, so Jeno decided to butt in.

"Donghyuck's actually nice if you get to know him." Jeno tried.

"Yeah, I mean he let us use his house." Jaemin agreed. 

Suddenly, the amount of people in the backyard grew, not super crowded since the yard could probably hold a Kardashian wedding but enough to notice a size difference.

They heard a familiar voice coming toward them, "Move, move, move." 

Donghyuck broke through the crowd and joined the circle, "I forgot inviting people here meant they'd sit on my furniture so I kicked them outside."

Donghyuck took Jaemin's drink and gulped it down, "God this is exhausting." 

"Hey Donghyuck, your house is gorgeous and I love your hair!" The girl complimented.

"Thanks! I love your...." Donghyuck looked her toe to head, "um yeah....thanks." 

The boys behind her snickered but Donghyuck hadn't noticed he'd done anything rude. What a Donghyuck thing to do. 

"Anyway, want to go to my room and finish the last episode of that drama we were watching?" Donghyuck asked, ignoring everyone else but Renjun.

"I don't remember being on the last episode?" Donghyuck rolled his eyes.

"You always fall asleep!" 

"Renjun can't go anywhere. He's my date!" Jaemin pointed out for the nth time.

"Give it up Jaemin. I ship Noren and we all know it always ends up with what the best friend says!" The boys raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"What the fuck is a 'noren'?" Jaemin questioned. 

"je-NO and REN-jun. Duh." Donghyuck stated, making the two said males blush.

"Shut up Donghyuck." Renjun slapped him on the arm.

"Yeah, that's a stupid name. Noren, pfSh. Sounds like someone that wears beige everyday." Jaemin huffed. Stupid Donghyuck, he takes back defending him.

"Whatever, I'll be upstairs. Don't let people sit on my couches." Donghyuck strutted away, pushing people in his way. 

The party got bigger and louder but the boys barely noticed since they'd been hopping from people to people all night and by they, it was actually just Jaemin dragging them along. 

Renjun got to see them being normal teenagers, Jeno was on the shyer side, he knew that already. He'd only speak when he was spoken to, which was a good amount actually. Jaemin on the other hand spoke over everyone but he never failed to send people to fits of laughter in their drunken states. 

Renjun didn't mind following Jaemin around, he thought it was kind of nice talking to the people he'd been going to school with and never spoke too, until they started asking hard questions.

"Were you like adopted by Donghyuck's mom or something? Who are your parents?" But it was fine, since apparently just as jumpy and talkative as Jaemin was when he was drunk, he was equally as protective when he saw Renjun uncomfortable.

"Hey! Can we go one night without asking who's dad is who. Jesus." And they'd shut up at that because people apparently cared about what someone like Jaemin thought of them.

"Thanks." Renjun muttered. 

"No problem. Now you haven't met the gang." Jaemin took him by the waist shamelessly, making Renjun slightly flustered, no one ever touched him like that. 

"This is Renjun, my date! Renjun this is Lucas and Yangyang." Jaemin introduced.

"Hey." Renjun waved his hand.

"You're cute or whatever." Yangyang pursed his lips to the side. 

"I strongly agree." Lucas said taking a sip out of his cup. 

"Where are the rest?" Jaemin asked. Lucas and Yangyang shrugged, "The three of them left a little while ago."

"Hm." Jaemin questioned, "I guess you'll meet them another time." 

Renjun nodded and looked around, wondering where Jeno had gone to. 

"Hey, do you know where Jeno is?" Jaemin rose a brow in confusion and looked around with him.

"I'm not sure." Jaemin tiptoed to look over the crowd, he was about to yell his name when he realized that maybe he shouldn't. 

If Jeno got to spend time alone with Renjun, shouldn't Jaemin be able to too?

He stood back down on his feet and looked over at Renjun who was still looking around. 

"I bet he just needed to use the bathroom. Let's go to the balcony, it's getting a little stuffy here." Renjun hesitated but went along with Jaemin since there was no where else to go.

Jaemin took a styrofoam cooler he found on the ground and shoved a bunch of beers in to it. They walked upstairs and Renjun lead him to one of the balconies. 

"I forgot this was the empty balcony, we can go to another one with seats." Renjun offered.

"Nah, I got it." Jaemin put the cooler down and stumbled inside, he came back out with a big blanket and placed it on the ground. 

Jaemin plopped down on it and patted the spot next to him to get Renjun to lay down with him. 

Renjun sat on it carefully, looking at Jaemin who was sprawled on it and staring at the sky. 

"This blanket's probably worth a good kidney." Renjun mentioned when he noticed Jaemin had his muddy shoes on it.

"Eh, they can afford another one. Now lay down. Look at the stars." Renjun nodded, laying next to him. 

"So tell me what you know about astrology." Jaemin asked. 

"Why would I know anything about astrology?" 

Jaemin shrugged, "I don't know, Jeno knew a lot about it when we were like five. We used to sneak out at night and he would point out all the stars." 

Renjun smiled to himself, of course they did. They'd done everything together and it showed, "That's cute." 

"Yeah, he was a nerd. Now look, that one's Serpens Caput." Jaemin pointed to the sky. 

"I have no idea what you're pointing at." Jaemin rolled his eyes and pulled Renjun's head so that their cheeks were squished together.

"What are you doing?" Renjun panicked.

"Look." Jaemin pointed at an array of stars, ignoring him. Renjun settled the panic and squinted to see them.

"Oh, it's a little snake!" Renjun realized, giggling at it.

"Yup, a serpent." Jaemin turned around quickly, inches away from Renjun's face. 

Renjun turned to stare at what he was doing and backed up to where they weren't as close.

He noticed Jaemin staring at him weirdly and laughed awkwardly, "Why are you looking at me like that."

Jaemin smiled, "No reason, you're just nice to look at." 

Renjun sat up and let out another awkward chuckle, "You're a little too drunk."

"Nah." Jaemin sat up next to him, scooting closer. 

"How'd you like the party?" Jaemin asked. 

"I don't really like people my age, especially in big crowds. So it was interesting." Renjun said, not paying attention to his own words but watching as Jaemin inched closer to him.

"It's good it's just the two of us up here then." Jaemin had his charming smile on his face and Renjun could see just how perfect his teeth were from where he was at.

"Right." Renjun muttered.

Jaemin's smile slowly fell off his face as he leaned in closer to Renjun.

Renjun could see his glowy skin in the dark and his plump pink lips. 

His plump pink lips that were a little too close to his own and getting closer. Renjun felt his breath shake and nerves in his stomach tingle. 

He was about to back away, when his phone rang and beat him to it. He picked it up, almost dropping it while doing so.

"h-hello." He stuttered out. Jaemin just watched him, with a little smirk on his face.

"I'm at Hyuck's, sorry. I'll be there in a bit." Renjun answered. 

"Yeah. Okay, love you." He hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Jaemin asked, opening another can.

"Uhm my mom. I have to go. I'll see you at school or wherever I see you." Renjun stood up, almost tripping over the blanket.

"Bye Junnie!" Jaemin said cutely. Renjun went through the balcony door and let out a big breath.

He felt his face cool down from its flush and wondered why he was so worked up. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Donghyuck walked up the stairs, annoyed with everyone that was in his house. He stomped to his room and flopped on his bed. 

"Stupid Na Jaemin. Stealing Renjun away from me." Donghyuck complained to himself, he snuggled up in his bed and texted his butler to bring him snacks.

He picked up the remote and turned on the tv to his drama. 

"Shouldn't you be hosting?" 

"AH!" Donghyuck jumped at the voice. He peeked over his bedsheet and saw a blonde boy laying on his white fuzzy couch comfortably, his feet up and his hands behind his head.

"How'd you get in here!" Donghyuck yelled from the middle of his bed.

"I was actually wondering when I could see you again." Mark ignored him and stood up, walking to one of Donghyuck's closets.

"You wanted to see me?" Donghyuck questioned, flattered with the simple statement but he would never admit it.

He followed Mark in to his bag closet and watched the boy wander. 

"This is a huge ass collection." He pointed out, touching the bags lightly. 

"Yeah, they're categorized by designer then by color." Donghyuck mentioned, standing there awkwardly as Mark looked around.

"Anyway, I sold all that stuff for like 2k last time. So thanks." Mark looked back at him and smiled.

"I didn't really do anything but your welcome." Donghyuck shrugged, a little giddy at the fact that he did something to get a thank you, no one ever had a reason to thank him.

"I brought more stuff that I thought you could look at." Mark walked past Donghyuck and took a backpack from the fuzzy seat he was sitting on before. 

He kicked his shoes off and sat in the middle of Donghyuck's bed. He emptied out his backpack on the bed and motioned Donghyuck to sit next to him.

On a regular occasion Donghyuck would yell at anyone who dared to walk around his room like it was theirs but at the moment all he could think of was how there was a cute boy on his bed that wasn't Renjun. 

So he sat next to him and looked at the various items the boy had brought. 

"Where'd you get all of this?" Donghyuck asked, picking up the gold. 

"Not important, is there anything valuable?" Mark waited as Donghyuck looked through everything. 

"Did you go to some teenage girl party?" Donghyuck asked picking up five silver bracelets. 

"I stole them from a bachelorette party." Mark shrugged.

"Looks like it. They're Tiffany and Co, the chain is pretty thick, they're silver and a nice weight, so that's like 400 and the heart charm is probably like 100 dollars itself but I'd have to search it up. I don't wear their jewelry." Donghyuck grabbed his phone and looked it up quickly.

Mark looked over his shoulder and his mouth fell open at what he saw on the screen. 

Love Lock Bracelet, Tiffany & Co - $550 

"Each one of these is 550 dollars! If I sell them for like 475 each that's like 2375 dollars!" Mark took the bracelets from Donghyuck carefully.

"God, you're amazing." Mark said as he put them in the front pocket of his backpack.

Donghyuck flushed a little at the comment and let out a small laugh, enjoying the attention, "I mean all I did was search it up, anyone could do that."

"I don't know anything about this. What about this." Mark placed something else on Donghyuck's lap. 

Donghyuck looked at it for a second when there was a knock at the door, the door was opened and in came Donghyuck's butler with two of his maids, entering with platters.

"Oh I forgot about the snacks, you can just lay them anywhere." Donghyuck told but his servants seemed a little delayed, focusing on the boy next to him.

"Seungi." He snapped his fingers, his butler bowed in apology and continued, the maids following along. 

"You have maids?" Mark asked astonished, standing to see all the food they were laying out. 

"Uh yeah." Donghyuck giggled, Mark being curious of everything was adorable.

"Anything for you sir?" Seungi asked Mark. 

Mark pointed at himself in confusion, "Me?" 

Seungi nodded, everyone's eyes on Mark, "Do you have like.... steak?" Mark thought up.

"Of course sir." Seungi bowed and walked out with the maids, closing the door behind them. 

"You can just order steak anytime you want? That's crazy!" Mark sat back down next to Donghyuck. 

"I mean yeah but I'm a vegetarian." Donghyuck shrugged. 

Mark scoffed, "What a waste of 24 hour steak."

Donghyuck crossed his arms in offense,"Whatever, let's get back to this."

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Jaemin watched Renjun leave the house and sighed, "Cute."

He finished the rest of the can and threw it somewhere on the porch, he left the room and explored the empty second floor.

He found the first bathroom he could and tumbled inside of it, closing the door behind him.

"Jesus, it's huge." Jaemin said to himself, looking around.

"Yeah, it is." Jaemin jumped at Jeno's voice, he was washing his hands at one of the sinks.

"Hey, what are you doing in here!" Jaemin skipped up to him, like he hadn't seen him in days. 

"Using the bathroom, where's Renjun?" Jeno rinsed his hands off. 

Jaemin sat on the sink counter, in front of where Jeno was, "He had to go sadly, he's so cute and flustered."

Jeno raised a brow wondering if anything happened between them.

"That sucks, I didn't get to say bye." Jaemin watched Jeno pout, "We should head back downstairs."

"Or..." Jaemin grabbed Jeno by his shirt, wrapping his legs around his hips and pulling him in to a kiss. Jeno kissed back for 2 seconds before pulling away and shaking his head. 

"Jaemin..." 

Jaemin raised a brow in confusion then Oh'd, "Yeah, it's kind of weird doing it in a bathroom but it's a nice bathroom and if I just like adjusted on here it'd be fine." 

Jaemin wriggled around on the counter trying to get comfortable. 

Jeno sighed at the boy, "That's not it." 

Jaemin raised his eyebrow again, trying to figure out what was wrong and Oh'd a second time.

"Do you want to sit up here?" Jaemin smiled mischeviously, "Because we can do that too." 

"No, no. Stop." Jeno waved his hands. 

"I like Renjun." Jeno explained, "Like a lot." 

Jaemin laughed, "Yeah, I do too. He's adorable and all I have to do to make him blush is wink."

"Then why are you doing this?" Jeno gestured between them, confused.

"What do you mean? We always do this." Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows, also confused now. 

"Things are different now. I'm trying to make Renjun my boyfriend." Jeno tried slowly, trying to get to Jaemin's head. 

"So? We still do this when I have a boyfriend." Jaemin questioned, a little frustrated. This was the second time Jeno was being difficult. 

"Yeah but you don't care about who you're with. I like Renjun a lot and I'm pretty sure it'd be weird if I was with you while I was dating him." Jeno waved his arms around.

"Who said I didn't care about who I dated? And I like Renjun a lot too! Why do you think you're gonna be the one to date him." Jaemin said, offended and starting to get angry. Jeno sighed, exasperated. His patience with Jaemin slipping. 

"If you like him so much why are you trying to have sex with me right now!" Jeno yelled, fed up with always being so fucking lost in this boys cycle.

Jaemin looked at him in shock, Jeno had never ever ever raised his voice at him.

"Why are you yelling at me!" Jaemin hopped off the counter.

"Jaemin, I'm sorry. I'm just so confused." Jeno calmed down. 

"I'm confused as to why you're yelling at me and calling me a slut!" Jaemin's eyes teared up.

"I never said that. I just..." He stared at Jaemin who was about to break.

"This." He gestured between them, "Whatever this is, has to end." 

Jaemin stared at him, a baffled expression on his face. He couldn't believe him but his shock was quickly replaced with anger, anger that was very elevated due to the alcohol, his tears threatening to slip from his eyes, "Fine and that goes along with everything else! You're a terrible best friend!"

"Jaem-" He shut the bathroom door loudly, making Jeno flinch.

Jeno put his arms up to his chest, he'd never fought with Jaemin before. He'd never been apart of anything that escalated so quickly, his heart beat was pounding in his ears. He sat on the cold ground, trying to catch his breath. 

What just happened? 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	12. break up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

The lunch bell had rang which meant that every kid in the school went to their respective friend groups. Friend groups that they've had since middle school some since elementary school and some since birth. 

Na Jaemin did have a nice, wholesome friend group that he got along with amazingly but he couldn't go back to them anymore because that meant facing Lee Jeno and that wasn't going to happen. 

So he skipped to a familiar place that no one else dared to go. He stood in front of the door and knocked playfully. 

"What!" He heard Donghyuck yell from the other side. 

Jaemin opened the door and skipped in to the room sitting next to a laying Renjun on the futon. 

"Hello new best friends!" Jaemin chirped.   
Renjun and Donghyuck exchanged a confused look. 

"Hey Jaemin." Renjun sat up slowly.

"What happened to Jeno and the rest of them?" Donghyuck asked.

"Jeno is dead to me, so that sadly means I can't see the rest of them." Jaemin sighed.

"What do you mean he's dead to you? You guys are best friends." Renjun raised a brow.

"Were best friends. We got in to an argument but it's fine because now it's the three of us!" Renjun frowned, he wondered what could have possibly happened over the weekend. 

"Na Jaemin, you can't just go and invite yourself in to this. This is a duo! Find another group!" Donghyuck rolled his eyes. 

Renjun glared at Donghyuck and stood up, dragging him out of the room, "Jaemin, if you could let us talk for a second." 

Jaemin smiled and nodded, Renjun smiled back and closed the door. 

"Why are you yelling at him." Renjun scolded,"He just went through a break up."

Donghyuck scoffed, "How is that our problem?" 

"They've known each other forever, he might not seem like it but he's probably super hurt right now." Renjun pointed out, Donghyuck just shrugged.

"Okay, imagine if we broke up, how would that be like." Renjun tried.

"Oh my god, I refuse to ever imagine that. Huang Renjun, I can not believe you even have the nerve to say that out loud." Donghyuck shook his head. 

"Exactly! So we just let him hang out with us until they work it out." Renjun suggested. Donghyuck put his hands on his hips sassily.

"Fine." 

They went back inside to see Jaemin eating Donghyuck's snacks. 

"This is delicious." Jaemin said with a mouth full of macaroons.

"Oh my god, I'm going to kill him." Donghyuck muttered.

"Anyway, you're more than welcome to hang out with us until you patch things up with Jeno." Renjun said, sitting next to him.

"So forever!" Jaemin exclaimed. He hugged Renjun, making him blush. 

Renjun pushed him away, "Rule number 1, we don't do that." 

"Noted."

"Wanna tell us what happened now?" Donghyuck asked. 

"Ehhh...not important. What IS important is that we have our first sleepover today so that I can be officially a part of renhyuck!" Donghyuck cringed at the name.

"Ew, let me handle the ship names." Jaemin stuck his tongue out at him. 

Renjun was curious about what their argument could've been about. You'd think the boys were a couple if you didn't know they were best friends and why it had to be secret made Renjun even more curious.

The bell rang and the three walked to class, they'd gotten to Renjun and Donghyuck's class first but before they could go in Jaemin pulled them back.

"One of you has to walk me, that's what best friends do." Donghyuck just shrugged and entered the classroom. 

Renjun sighed, "Fine, let's go."

The two walked to class together, Jaemin talking about all the things the three could do together.

They got to the classroom and Renjun waved at him, ready to leave. 

"Wait, hug me goodbye." Jaemin put his arms out.

"What? No. Hugging is a no, remember." Renjun waved his hand in dismissal of the idea.

"Please. I could really use it right now. I'll never ask again." Jaemin pouted.

Renjun sighed, giving in and hugging the boy, his face getting squished in to Jaemin's chest the tighter Jaemin made the hug. 

After two seconds, Renjun tried pulling away but Jaemin's grip was strong. 

"A little longer, this is our only hug EVER." Renjun rolled his eyes and let the hug lengthen. Until people started passing by them and staring, making Renjun more flustered than he was, he hated public affection.

"Okaayyyy." Renjun pushed him away. 

"I'm going back to class now!" Renjun laughed awkwardly.

"Bye Junie!" Jaemin waved, Renjun scowled at the nickname, "Don't call me that." 

Jaemin just smiled as the boy walked away and entered his own class, knowing that the boy he was avoiding saw the embrace.

He sat across the room from where he usually sits, and waited for class to start. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Jeno watched the boy from where he usually sat in the classroom, he'd always get to class first and wait for Jaemin to come in, saving his seat so they could always sit together but today was different. 

Jeno had gotten to class early, out of habit. He'd been questioned like crazy at lunch and he didn't know what to say.

"Where's Jaemin?" Yangyang asked immediately as Jeno walked in to the cafeteria alone.

"Um...I'm not sure." Everyone looked at him, confusion etched on all of their faces. He hadn't seen Jaemin all weekend, he hadn't had a single trace of the boy and it made him feel terrible. 

He'd thought about texting him a couple times, maybe he'd imagined the whole thing or what was said was left in the night but that was too good to be true. 

"What?" Lucas asked for everyone.

Jeno chuckled awkwardly, "Uhm...we're not really friends anymore." 

The group laughed at the absurd idea, "Is he playing some prank on us? Are you stalling or something?" Felix looked around, wondering where Jaemin could be.

"No." Jeno sat down. "We had a fight and we're just not friends anymore."

Silence fell at the table, they all waited for someone to dig for more information, forcing each other with their eyes. 

"So...what happened?" Hyunjin finally asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Jeno shut down the question, no one would understand what they had going on. He didn't understand either.

"Well, that's okay. It takes time to heal and I bet you'll make up in no time." Hyunjin reassured. The group got back to talking, keeping an eye on Jeno and wondering what could have possibly happened. 

Now Jeno had a pretty solid idea where Jaemin had decided to spend his time during lunch and it was just great watching the two boys you had ginormous crushes on hug each other for way longer than just friendly. 

Jeno watched Jaemin across the class chatting with his new seat mate, seemingly unfazed with the events of the weekend.

He probably hadn't been hung up on it all weekend like Jeno was, maybe their friendship really was over, just like that. 

Jeno's thoughts were halted when a girl sat next to him, "Sorry, my seat was taken. So I'm sitting here now." 

Jeno nodded as the blonde, short haired girl dropped her backpack on the floor carelessly and typed away on her phone.

The bell rang, the lesson starting and everyone silencing after a minute or two. Jeno was distracted the entirety of class, his eyes focused on Jaemin, he wasn't used to being separated from him for so long. 

"Lovers quarrel?" The girl asked once they started packing up, running her hand through her hair.

"N-no. We're just friends." Jeno panicked, surprised the girl was speaking to him.

"Right. So what's the deal then?" She raised a brow. 

Jeno sighed, "Honestly, its a long story." 

"I have a free period. I can hear it." The girl shrugged. Jeno thought about it, she was a complete stranger but the urge to talk to at least one person was so strong, he couldn't resist and it wasn't like he could just talk to his friends about it, it'd be way too confusing. So he decided to ditch his last period to let everything out to a completely random girl, who hopefully wouldn't say anything about it in the future. 

He followed her out the door, not sparing another glance to Jaemin.

"So?" She lit a cigarette once they were outside, much to Jeno's surprise. He looked around to see if there were any teachers but no one was seen. 

"So, we've been friends forever...." 

Jeno gives her way too many details about their childhood, that maybe he's focusing a little too hard on but it was nice speaking for so long, the only person he ever spoke to in so many sentences was Jaemin.

"And one day we're just playing video games and he stops and leans over to kiss me and I was like 15. I hadn't had my first kiss yet, I hadn't really thought about him like that but I knew I liked it and like after that we started getting touchier and every time we hung out, we didn't do normal stuff anymore all we did was touch each other and then he asked me if we could ever get further and we did!" Jeno ranted, the girl nodding along, weirdly interested.

"Anyway, it was weird because we never talked about being boyfriends and one day I see Jaemin kissing this other dude and it like kinda crushes my heart.... ya know. And I ask him about it and he just shrugs it off and says it was some random dude he met and that he was experimenting with other people, that we weren't exclusive and we're just friends." Jeno stops to look at the girl who had lit another cigarette and waved at him to continue. He explains how they started gambling and finally gets to how they met Renjun.

"We lost 100,000 dollars! But it's not like it really mattered because we'd been collecting it for a while, it just kinda sucked. But the boy, or Renjun, he's the most interesting person ever. Like I know nothing about him and it's absolutely captivating. And after he won, I knew I had to see him again and boom! We run in to him at school, kind of like fate!" Jeno gets excited. 

"But turns out Jaemin's trying to get him too and of course Jaemin would be more successful than me but I ask him on a date anyway and it's really fun and during all of this me and Jaemin are still." Jeno raises his eyebrows suggestively, blushing. 

The girl snorts, "And..?" 

"And he'd invited Renjun to this party, and he was telling everybody how Renjun was his date, which is fine I guess. Fair game. But later that night, he finds me and he's drunk and he makes a move on me which is normally fine but like he was literally talking about how Renjun was his date the whole night! So I decide to end any sexual relationship we have but I kind of worded it really bad and he got really mad and now we're not friends either!" Jeno breathed out, relief flooding over him. He'd never talked about his relationship with the boy to anyone, everything him and Jaemin had was always between them. 

"Man, Jaemin sounds like a real dick." The girl flicked her cigarette somewhere, standing up and walking back towards the school.

"That's some serious manipulation." Jeno ran after her.

"He's my best friend though." The girl shook her finger in front of his face.

"Was your best friend. I'm your new best friend now." Jeno looked at her in confusion, his tiny eyes widened. 

"Do you not need a best friend. I'll replace Jaemin and help you get this Renjun boy." Jeno looked hesitant.

"Why?" 

She sighed, flipping her hair back, "Because Jeno. I also don't have friends and I've taken interest in your lonely life." 

Jeno scoffed, "I'm not lonely! I have a bunch of friends." 

"Right and I'm assuming they know about this whole dilemma too?" The girl asked cockily. Jeno shook his head slowly.

"So I guess I'm the second person in this world that knows the most about you." Jeno thought about it for a second and nodded dumbly, she was right. It'd been an hour since they'd met and this random girl knew all his secrets. 

"Okay...I guess we're best friends." Jeno agreed with the idea. 

"That's what I thought." She flipped her hair over her shoulder again.

"Yeah, uhm.....what's your name?" 

She laughed, "It's Yeeun." 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

A week and a half. The only thing that was keeping Jaemin alive was Renjun protecting him from an aggravated Donghyuck.

"Who does she think she is? I leave for like a second and Jeno already has girls all over him. It's gross how desperate it is." Jaemin stared at them from the cafeteria line, where they were sitting with the rest of Jaemin's old crew.

"You know what's gross Na! I'm standing in the cafeteria lunch line because of you!" Jaemin ignored Donghyuck's complaints, his eyes focused on Jeno and the random girl that was suddenly around him all the time.

"Jaemin, if it bothers you so much, you should go talk to him." Renjun said, trying to be patient. They'd gone everywhere the boy insisted, he'd pick them up before school and they'd hang out after school everyday, one night Donghyuck had found him in his bed, he'd screamed so loudly the whole staff came running to his room. 

"It doesn't bother me injun! It's just interesting." Renjun tried not to blush every time Jaemin lets a nickname slip out. 

Their friendship had been fine the first day, until Jaemin noticed this new girl with Jeno all the time and joyful Jaemin was replaced with jealous Jaemin. Even though Jaemin would never admit it, Renjun knew what was up. 

"You're obviously fucking obsessed with this girl and Jeno, just apologize for whatever started this and make up already." Donghyuck grumbled. Jaemin turned slowly.

"I didn't do anything. It was all him." He twitched his eye at Donghyuck.

"What even did happen. I'm fed up with you. 'Best friends tell each other everything', right?" Donghyuck imitated Jaemin.

Jaemin ignored the topic, "Whatever, I'm getting my keys from Yangyang." 

"Keys?" Renjun questioned.

"I let him borrow my car, I never drive anyway. Now come with me, we need to figure out what's up with this girl." Jaemin took Renjun by the hand and dragged him to the table. Once they got closer, Renjun sensed the table quiet down.

"Hey Jaemin! Wanna sit." Lucas asked, giving Jaemin a sincere smile.

"Nope, I'm just here for my keys." He rose a brow at Yangyang, who nodded and started searching his backpack.

They stood there awkwardly as Yangyang rummaged through his bag, the table giving each other looks.

How Renjun got dragged in to this situation, he didn't know.

"Uhmmm....Jaemin have you met Yeeun!" Changbin asked. Jaemin turned his head to the said girl who was already looking him up and down.

"I don't think we have." She gave him a small smile. Jaemin made direct eye contact, purposefully not returning her kindness. 

Renjun chuckled to break Jaemin's cold silence, "Hi, I'm Renjun." 

Renjun shook her hand and smiled at Jeno while doing so, he seemed grateful for it.

"Oh. THE Renjun, I've heard a lot about you." She winked at him.

"Huh?" Renjun didn't think Jeno would mention him. He looked at Jeno, the tips of his ears were red but Renjun hadn't noticed. 

"You j-just came up in stuff." Jeno stuttered out. 

"Junie." Jaemin called, dangling the keys. 

"It was nice meeting you. See you around." Renjun smiled politely, glad the interaction was over.

"Actually, what are you doing after school? Jeno and I were gonna watch a movie." She asked, Jeno looked at her with wide eyes and Renjun's attention was immediately brought to Jaemin, whose eye twitches had started up again.

"Sounds fun but uh....actually I have just tons of homework to do today. It's crazy." Renjun nodded in fake disappointment.

"Maybe another time then." She smiled.

"What in the hell is taking so long!" Donghyuck marched up to them.

"People spoke to me for God's sake." Donghyuck complained. Renjun heard Hyunjin snort. 

"We were just leaving." Jaemin took Renjun by the hand and walked away. Renjun gave one last wave to Jeno when Jaemin wasn't looking.

"Why did you converse with the enemy!?" Jaemin whisper yelled, as they walked to 'Donghyuck's room'.

"Becau-"

"Whatever, at least we know her name, I'll be doing some research." Jaemin interrupted.

Renjun sighed, it really didn't seem like they were gonna make up anytime soon and Renjun decided it was time for him to get involved. 

After school, Renjun ran out of his class before Jaemin could meet with him. He ran outside and searched for Jeno, who was already getting in to his car, Yeeun behind him. 

"Hey!" Renjun said breathless, once he reached the limo. 

"Can we talk?" 

"Uh yeah, let's talk in the car." Renjun nodded and went in to the vehicle first.

Renjun made himself comfortable, taking a water from the mini fridge.

"What do you wanna talk about?" Jeno asked as he closed the door and the car drove off.

"Jaemin." 

"Right." Jeno looked at Yeeun, who just rose her eyebrows knowingly. Renjun wondered if she knew what started this.

"He won't tell me what happened but he misses you and it's weird seeing y'all apart for so long." Renjun said softly. 

"He said he missed me?" Jeno asked.

Renjun hummed, "Not exactly but I can tell he does. I don't know what's wrong but maybe you can talk to him?" 

"Why does Jeno have to be the one to talk to him?" Yeeun butted in. 

Renjun shrunk in his seat, the girl weirdly intimidated him, "You know Jaemin. He's a tad stubborn." 

"Yeah, a tad." Jeno clicked his tongue.

"That shouldn't be Jeno's problem." Yeeun shrugged. Renjun usually wasn't one to get bothered easily but this girl was getting there, even if she was a little scary.

"So you're not gonna talk to him?" Renjun ended, a disappointed look on his face. 

Jeno couldn't help but soften at Renjun's words, he was weak.

"Why do you care so much about Jaemin anyway? It's like you're his boyfriend or something." Yeeun scoffed, searching for a reaction.

Renjun's face flushed. He definitely did not like this girl and it was hard to get Renjun to dislike anyone. Who was she to get involved.

"I'm j-just t-trying to be a good friend." Did he actually stutter? Renjun's definitely dealt with more than this small, blonde headed girl.

"For Jaemin. Did you ever think about Jeno." Jeno hit Yeeun on the side of her arm.

The car rounded the corner, turning back in the schools parking lot.

The car parked and it took all of Renjun's self control to not glare at her as he stepped out.

"Think about it. Don't let someone else tell you what to do." Renjun glanced at Yeeun, he turned around and walked away. 

His phone ringing from texts, texts that are usually all from Donghyuck but now we're also full of Jaemin. 

"I'm trying to get him to date me! Not hate me!" Jeno cried once the door was closed.

"Well don't throw yourself at him. A little hard to get is always the way to go." Yeeun advised.

"Jaemin has one point on you. He's with him all the time now." Jeno nodded in agreement.

"I can tell he has a crush on him. You need to work your way in there before he figures it out himself." Jeno sighed in to his hands.

"And how do you suppose I do that?" Yeeun shrugged.

"I don't know, am I supposed to solve all your problems? Jesus." She rolled her eyes .

Jeno groaned and slouched in his seat. Part of his mind was repeating what Renjun had said but he refused to give in so easily. He had to stop letting himself get pushed around.

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Renjun was the most exhausted he'd been for a while. He spent his whole day with Donghyuck and Jaemin and usually he'd sleep fine around Donghyuck but put the two together and it was a never ending cycle of chaos. 

Now it was 2:30 am and Renjun was dragging his feet up his driveway, his backpack full of money and his eyes closing on him.

He heard shuffling, his alertness replacing his sleepiness. Sicheng came from the backyard, black hood on.

"Hey." He greeted nonchalantly, pulling the hood down and fixing his hair.

"You look awful." 

Renjun rolled his eyes, "Thanks, wasn't aware."

They entered their home, both ready for sleep until Renjun heard two familiar voices.

"Andrea is the worst! How do you like her?" Jaemin sounded astonished.

"Just because she's a lil' sassy and knows how to get what she wants, doesn't mean she's a bad person." Bao pursed her lips.

Renjun stood in the living room, wondering what in the hell was going on. Jaemin was sitting on the couch, hugging a pillow, a blanket wrapped around himself. Bao the same way, sitting next to him.

"Junie! You're back!" Jaemin stood up and ran towards Renjun like he hadn't seen him in years.

"What are you doing here?" Renjun sighed.

"Renjun! Don't be rude to our guest." Bao scolded and got up to stand next to them. 

"Now be a good host and give your boyfriend a tour of the house." Renjun's temper was on the edge of giving out.

"Wow. Good luck with that." Sicheng patted Renjun's shoulder and walked upstairs.

"Omg, your mom approves of us." Jaemin gasped.

Renjun held his fingers to his temple and shook his head, "Jaemin. What do you want?"

Jaemin pouted, "Well it's just...I'm not really used to sleeping alone, I've been having sleepovers with the rest of my friends all week but I don't want to anymore and Donghyuck kicked me out yesterday, so I got zero sleep last night." 

Renjun looked at his pouting face, it wasn't like he was going to send him home at 3 am, "Fine. My room's the last one in the hallway."

"Oh, so you're having a sleepover?" Bao asked.

"Yeah...and?" 

Bao shrugged, "Oh, nothing. You just never have sleepovers." 

"Donghyuck stays over all the time." Renjun pointed out.

"Yeah...but Donghyuck's Donghyuck." Renjun and Bao stared at each other in silence.

"Okay...we're gonna go upstairs now." Renjun pushed Jaemin up the stairs.

"Just be safe and don't be afraid to ask any questions!" Bao called after them. Renjun stopped mid-step to look at her in disbelief. 

Jaemin giggled, "She really does approve of us." 

"Mom! That's gross!" Renjun gagged. 

"Hey!" Jaemin frowned 

"What's wrong with you!" 

"I don't know what you kids are doing these days! Jesus, forget I said anything." Bao put her hands up in defense.

Renjun nodded in disgust and dragged Jaemin to his room, "Already forgotten!"

They walked in to his room and Jaemin flopped on Renjun's bed, his pillow still in his arms.

Renjun looked at him, realizing the only people he'd ever slept with was his family and Donghyuck.

"Wow, you're pillows are so fluffy!" Jaemin buried himself deeper in the bed. 

"Yeah." Renjun went in to his closet to change in to his pajamas. He came back and turned the lights off, leaving them in complete darkness. 

"Uhm, do you wanna watch something on Netflix." He asked, laying next to his guest.

"Sure." 

Renjun laid tensely, looking over at Jaemin from time to time, who was peacefully watching some show he'd pick out. 

After a while, Jaemin had fallen asleep. Renjun turned the t.v off and faced his back toward the boy. 

All the drowsiness that he'd been feeling had suddenly gone away and he wondered if something was wrong with him. Jaemin had fallen asleep just fine, so why couldn't he. 

They laid in silence, Renjun's mind completely awake so he closed his eyes and slowed his breath down. 

He could feel Jaemin moving slightly and tried not to freak out about how there was someone else on his bed. 20 minutes later he was finally drifting off to sleep when he heard a sniffle. 

His eyes opened immediately, almost angry that his sleep was interrupted but the anger faded quickly when he heard a second sniffle.

He turned around slowly, facing the back of Jaemin's head.

"Hey...are you okay?" 

Jaemin sniffled again, "I thought you were asleep." 

"No, not yet." 

Jaemin turned his body around, Renjun could spot out the glistening tears on his cheeks through the soft light the moon was providing. 

"What's wrong?" Renjun asked softly.

Jaemin gripped the blanket and brought it closer to him. 

"I don't know." He tried wiping his tears away but they were quickly replaced with new ones.

"You don't know?" Renjun wasn't sure what to do with that. 

They laid in silence, the only sound being Jaemin's sniffles, until he finally gave a definite answer, "I miss him." 

"I got too defensive. I didn't mean for it to get this far, this is the longest I haven't been with him." Jaemin said, a little choked up. 

"You could always talk to him, I bet he feels the same way." Renjun thought about the talk him and Jeno had earlier.

"No he doesn't. He's already replaced me with some random girl." Jaemin's tears started running down his face faster. 

"Don't think of it like that, he needs someone while you're gone too." Renjun reassured.

"He has all of our friends but it doesn't matter." Jaemin took the back of his hand and refused to let any more tears fall down his face. 

"Thank you....for everything. I know I'm high maintenance and I'm sorry I bother you so much but I really appreciate you Renjun. I'm glad that at least one good thing came out of this." Renjun could see his small smile through the dark and the cold room suddenly felt burning hot. Renjun wasn't sure if his heartbeat was loud or if it was just because his head was on his pillow but the sudden need to protect Jaemin was present, and he gave him a fond smile. 

"Well, you're not too bad." Jaemin giggled and Renjun's giggles came soon after. 

"Let's go to sleep." Renjun said, as their giggles quieted. 

They fell asleep in each other's warmth and Renjun didn't mind when Jaemin wrapped his arm around his waist and Renjun even played with his hair, ignoring his screaming heart and blushing cheeks. 

Renjun ignored it all for the time being, his focus solely on the boy next to him, unknowing of the beautiful mess the future would bring. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	13. make up ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Three weeks. And Renjun had seen Jaemin cry more times than Renjun had ever cried himself.

Renjun learned it could be triggered by anything. A song that they'd used to listen to. Two children playing together. 3 days ago he'd seen a dog that looked like Jeno and it send him to immediate tears. Renjun was used to high maintenance but Na Jaemin really was something else, he also happened to have the most intense mood swings, worse than Lee Donghyuck himself.

One minute he was, "Oh my god! Let's go get our nails done! I've never had anyone to do it with me!"

The next he was crying in Renjun's bed, refusing to go anywhere. 

But Renjun had quickly adapted to it, ever since he'd seen Jaemin cry the first time they'd gotten close. Their skin ship didn't freak Renjun out anymore and it was actually becoming a regular thing. Every time Jaemin would cry, Renjun would take his head and gently place it on his shoulder, letting him get his feelings out. They had a balanced relationship and everything was actually going smoothly.

Except that Renjun kind of........kept in touch with Jeno.

"You're going to hang out with him!" Donghyuck exclaimed. 

Renjun sighed, "I can't just keep ignoring him, he's always texting me!" 

Donghyuck nodded his head in disappointment, "If Jaemin finds out, he's gonna be crushed."

"I know, that's why he can't find out. Plus, Jeno's a nice guy, he doesn't deserve to be ignored." Renjun said, fixing his hair in the mirror. 

"Right. That's why you're wearing your good jeans for him." Renjun blushed, throwing a hairbrush at Donghyuck, who was sitting on his bed. 

"You're really trying to cop the man our new best friend has beef with. I didn't think you'd ever be this problematic Renjun." Donghyuck tsked, dodging the brush.

"Shut up, I'm not trying to do anything. It's just that last time we hung out I looked like a rotten sack of potatoes and he was actually dressed properly." Renjun picked his phone up and shoved it in his pocket. 

"Sureeeee." Renjun rolled his eyes and opened the door. 

"I'll be back in like 2 hours." Donghyuck nodded, laying down and typing on his phone. 

Renjun walked down the stairs, debating if he should give some fake excuse and stay at home with Donghyuck but he quickly dismissed the idea, it was a little too late for that now. 

He was about to open his front door when it suddenly opened on its own.

"I brought every season of Avatar The Last Airbender." Jaemin said, barging in and dropping every dvd on the couch. 

"Oh, I-" 

"What are you so dressed up for?" Jaemin interrupted.

"My mom." Renjun thought up the first excuse he could, you can't fight moms. 

"She wanted us to have a family dinner, nothing too fancy but yeah." Jaemin nodded and looked him up and down.

"Well you look cute, maybe the three of us should have a dinner sometime." Jaemin smiled. 

Renjun smiled back, ignoring the guilt that suddenly enveloped him. It's like god wanted to make sure he knew he was a terrible person. 

"Yeah, uhm....Donghyuck's upstairs and I'll be back in a little bit." 

"Okay! I'll save the show for when you get back." Renjun nodded and waved from the door.

"Bye!" 

"Wait!" Jaemin ran over to him and embraced him. Renjun hugged him back, a little tighter than usual, as a subconscious sorry.

"Have a nice time Junie!" Renjun smiled at him one more time.

"I will." Renjun closed the door and walked to his car. 

"Did you get the address?" His driver nodded and started the vehicle. 

Renjun tried to shake the awful feeling away but Jaemin made it impossibly hard with being the sweetest boy in the universe and all.

How'd he end up in the middle of this. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Hey!" Jeno looked up from his phone excitedly. 

"Hey." 

Renjun sat in front of the boy. Jeno wanted to meet in one of those nice, overpriced coffee shops, it was all very teenage for Renjun and Jeno looked good just as Renjun predicted, he was glad he'd gotten dressed up.

"How have you been, it's been awhile." Jeno asked putting his phone away.

"Fine, did you wanna talk about something?" Renjun asked bluntly. 

Maybe a little too bluntly, seeing that Jeno's smile slowly came off his face and Renjun felt, once again, very shitty. 

"I just wanted to hang out, if that's okay." Jeno said quietly, suddenly very shy.

"Oh...yeah, sorry." Renjun apologized, it's not like Renjun didn't secretly want to hang out, maybe he was being a bitch as an apology to Jaemin. 

"I'm sorry for being so awkward. I don't usually casually hang out with people." 

"Then I guess we'll have to change that." Jeno smiled. 

"So there's this new arcade next door, it's the reason I wanted to come but I wasn't sure if you'd be in to that." 

"That actually sounds like a lot of fun!" Renjun lied for Jeno's sake, he'd never actually been to an arcade. Let's be honest, he'd never been anywhere.

But It had been fun. 

"Jesus, you're good at everything." Renjun tossed the air hockey puck on the table, it had been his fourth loss.

"Nah, we just used to go to arcades all the time when we were kids." Jeno said casually, as they headed towards the hoop game. 

Renjun decided not to mention the 'we', he knew who he was talking about. 

Renjun watched as Jeno shot in to the hoop and suddenly one of the reasons that Jaemin had been crying last week resurfaced.

"Jeno used to make that face!" Jaemin's voice cracked as Chenle scored in to the basket. 

"The tongue and the nose scrunch!" Jaemin cried. Chenle cheered at his victory, not realizing the poor boy was sobbing now.

"He cheered like that too!" 

Now Renjun watched Jeno as he scrunched his eyebrows and had his tongue poking out slightly, aiming for the target. The machine started spewing out tickets when Jeno made every single shot. He cheered, jumping up and down, just how Jaemin had described. 

"Let's see what we can get with our tickets!" Jeno ran across the arcade, gathering all the tickets that were overflowing from his pockets.

Jeno had collected a total of 3k tickets, "Okay, pick anything you want."

"Anything?" Renjun asked, the only games Renjun had ever won before were all worth $10,000 plus. 

Jeno nodded, "Yup." 

Renjun scanned the prizes and his eyes landed on a huggable stuffed moomin, he pointed at it and the working teen grabbed it for him.

"Thank you!"

"Nice choice, now icecream!" Jeno said, walking to the icecream stand.

"Is this like our thing now?" Renjun pointed out as they got their dessert and sat outside in the chillish air of the fall. 

"If you want it to be." Jeno smiled. They ate their ice cream in silence until he noticed Jeno staring at him.....fondly? 

"Is there something on my face?" 

"Hm? Uh no...it's just.." Jeno licked his ice cream, looking hesitant. 

"Jaemin used to always get the fluffiest toy too." Jeno said shyly. 

Renjun held his cone in both hands, "It's been almost a month now Jeno. Are you really not gonna reach out?" 

Jeno looked guilty but ignored the question, "How's he been?" 

Renjun thought about how to answer that, he could say fine but that would be a complete lie, and his tear damped pillow cases were proof of that.

"Why don't you find out yourself?" He went with instead.

Jeno sighed, "It's not like I don't miss him but if we're actually not over, he has to be the one to fix it."

Renjun nodded, he didn't blame Jeno for the simple request and Renjun didn't want to meddle more than he already was but all they needed was a little push. They walked towards their nice cars. 

"Uhm, Yeeun's having a get together, she said I could invite anyone I wanted. If you want to come." Jeno asked shyly. 

Renjun didn't have the heart to say no, how could he when Jeno was ALSO the sweetest boy to ever exist. 

"Yeah, of course." 

"Cool, i'll text you then." Jeno waved at him, smiling happily.

"Bye." Renjun waved back, the boys smile was contagious. 

He entered his house after the short ride, smile still on his face, until he saw his mother, Donghyuck and Jaemin sitting on the couch.

"Hi Junie, where have you been?" Bao asked cheerfully.

"Yeah Junie, where have you been?" Jaemin said definitely not in the same tone. 

Renjun looked at Donghyuck who just nodded in disappointment.

"Uhm, I went out." Renjun chuckled awkwardly. He ran up the stairs, hearing footsteps following him. 

"You lied!" Jaemin said, barging through the door behind him. 

Renjun racked his brain for an excuse, his usually quick witted mind failed him.

"I was just going out to spend some time alone, I'm sorry I lied." Renjun apologized.

Jaemin looked at him, suspicion in his eyes then he looked kind of hurt, "Am I hanging out with y'all too much? Is that it?" 

His lips wobbled a little, the crying was beginning. 

"Of course not!" Renjun panicked, if only Jaemin was a baby, he could just give him a bottle of milk and the emotions would stop. 

"Renjun just needs alone time sometimes, he does the same to me." Donghyuck said, giving Jaemin a reassuring hug. Jaemin dug his head in to Donghyuck's neck and it was a weird sight to see, the boy broke in to Renjun and Donghyuck's little world in just three weeks.

"Are you sure I'm not bothering y'all." Jaemin sniffled in to Donghyuck's neck.

"Never." Donghyuck patted Jaemin's head and looked at Renjun in disgust.

'you should be ashamed' he mouthed. 

Donghyuck sat Jaemin down between Renjun and himself. 

"I know I've been the worst person to be around these past few weeks. I'm sorry. You can tell me to go away if I'm that annoying." Jaemin sniffled, his eyes pink.

"Don't cry, we love having you around." Renjun looked around, his eyes landing on the stuffed toy Jeno had won him. 

"If you're ever feeling sad and we're not around, you can hug this." Renjun put the Moomin on Jaemin's lap. 

Jaemin wiped his eyes clean, "You're giving me a gift!"

Renjun nodded and watched as Jaemin hugged it happily. Sure Jeno gave it to him and it was kinda rude to give a gift away but Renjun knew Jeno would want Jaemin to have it. 

"Think of it as a gift from both of us." Renjun said softly. Jaemin nodded, his crying coming to an end, not knowing that the other person he was talking about wasn't Donghyuck. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Jaemin knew it was kinda weird that he was stalking Yeeun's Instagram but he HAD to know everything about her and what made her SO special that Jeno took any interest in her at all.

(This was originally on wattpad so I couldn’t put the photos on here, sorry 😔🥺)

❤️ 230 likes   
yyyyeun blondes do it better   
comments.....  
ohseunghee only if they're you ;)  
utokki_ cute 

"Hmm...she has friends." Jaemin muttered to himself, looking at the older post, then why is she only with Jeno all the time. He clicked on a more recent post with Jeno.

❤️ 350 likes   
yyyyeeun hands up if we're cute   
comments....  
hyun.jin 🖐  
felix.the.cat 🖐  
xu_xi 👀👀  
yangdang y'all aight

"Traitors." Jaemin rolled his eyes. He continued to look at her newer posts.

❤️ 286 likes   
yyyyeeun I take back what I said about blondes   
comments....  
chang.bang our girl looking sexy  
hyun.jin ^^  
xu_xi ^^  
yangdang ^^

"I mean she's alright." Jaemin huffed. 

"Terrible lighting for a photo but she's cute." Jaemin jumped at the voice. Donghyuck was peeking behind him at his phone.

"Don't compliment her. We hate her." Donghyuck nodded, sitting next to Jaemin, stalking with him.

❤️ 310 likes   
yyyyeeun out on the town w/ @jenoyahh  
comments....  
xu_xi once again, uninvited .  
hyun.jin ^^  
felix.the.cat ^ you're cute, so I'll forgive you  
jenoyahh 💞

Jaemins face dropped at the last comment, "What's that supposed to mean!" 

Donghyuck looked at the comment in thought, "They don't seem like they're dating but maybe my radar is off." 

Jaemin shook his head, "No, they can't be dating. He has a huge crush on Renjun." 

Donghyuck's eyes widened, "I KNEW IT!" 

Jaemin rolled his eyes, "Like it wasn't obvious, don't say anything though."

Donghyuck fake gasped, "But I though best friends were supposed to tell each other everything." 

Jaemin pointed his phone at the boy, "Yeah but what if Renjun likes him back. Then they'll date and that would be terrible, even if they'd low key be adorable because they're the cutest, sweetest people on earth." 

Donghyuck stayed silent, thinking about how weird it was that Renjun came back home with a stuffed animal, it all sounded a little too boyfriend to him.

"Anyway, let's look at her old posts." 

❤️165 likes   
yyyyeeun after dinner selfie  
comments...  
chongtingyanelkie why r u cuter than me   
yyyyeeun @chongtingyanelkie lies   
sssorn_chonnasorn YOU'RE BOTH CUTE, SHUT UP   
utokki_ ^

❤️203 likes  
yyyeeun squad!  
comments...  
chongtingyanelkie awW!!  
sssorn_chonnasorn my ass rlly on you   
utokki_ 💖💞  
ohseunghee gannnGgGg  
seung_monkey we's cute 

"Do any of these girls go to our school?" Jaemin asked. 

Donghyuck shrugged, "I've never seen them."

"Weird." Donghyuck nodded in agreement, they both jumped as Renjun entered the house.

Renjun getting scared with them, "Why are y'all here! Why don't you hang out at Donghyuck's house!" 

"Because this is already our official hang out spot, we can't change it now." Jaemin argued.

Renjun sighed and flopped down next to them, looking at Jaemin's phone. 

"What are y'all doing?" 

"Stalking."

Renjun looked at all her photos, "She's cute, I'll give her that." 

"She's not cute! She's the enemy!" 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Do I look cute?" Yeeun checked herself out in the mirror and turned to Jeno when he didn't answer.

"You're not even paying attention." Jeno looked up from his phone, glancing at the girl.

"You look cute." He said insincerely.

"Wow, you go on one date with Renjun and you've forgotten all about me." Yeeun jumped on the bed, laying next to the boy, peering at his phone. 

She raised an eyebrow when she saw him going through photos of Jaemin.

"He pops up in every single one of my thoughts. It's hard to not do anything." Jeno frowned.

Yeeun hummed, "Well honey, that tends to happen when your best friend, who you've been clung to for 16 years, cuts you off." 

Yeeun jumped on her feet and opened the window, "Has he texted you at all?" 

Jeno shook his head, a small frown on his face, "Maybe I should just talk to him." 

Yeeun lit her cigarette, inhaling and exhaling out the window, "You're weak Lee Jeno." 

Jeno sighed, dropping his phone flat on his chest, "I know but I didn't think it would get this far."

"Let's get a coffee before school, maybe a little pastry would help take your mind off things." Yeeun said, flicking her cigarette somewhere out the window.

"Right because a baguette is the solution to all my problems." 

Yeeun scoffed, "I'm just trying to help with your teen angst."

They walked down the stairs and in to Jeno's car, his driver heading to some coffee place Yeeun went on and on about. 

"You look like you could use a cheese danish." Yeeun said observing Jeno, then nodding to herself and ordering the danish. 

They got situated, Jeno picking at the danish and Yeeun sipping happily at her coffee.

"Now tell me how you're date went, we never did get to that." Yeeun asked.

Jeno smiled, happy to talk about it, a tiny distraction from the boy his mind kept wandering to.

"I don't know if he thought it was a date but we did a lot of date-y stuff and I gave him a stuffed animal." Yeeun audibly aww'd. 

"Did you pull one of those cheesy moves? Like wrapping your arm around him, you should've. God Jeno, you're a failure." Jeno confusedly looked around.

"I didn't know people were actually in to that." Yeeun rolled her eyes.

"It's doesn't matter if he's in to it, it's a way to figure out if you're on a date or not. If he rejects you, friend zoned. If he doesn't, possible boyfriends." Jeno oh'd.

"Fine, he said he'd go to your party thing, I'll try the move and ask him out then." Jeno gave a thumbs up questioningly. Yeeun nodded, reassuring Jeno in his plan. 

"Good, let's go to school." 

Jeno was finally able to take his mind off the whole Jaemin situation, thinking about how he would ask Renjun out the whole ride back to school and while him and Yeeun were walking the hallways before class.

"He doesn't seem in to the whole big gesture thing, so I'll just pull him aside during the party and ask. I bet he would appreciate that." Jeno smiled. 

"You are adorable." Yeeun nodded to herself. 

"Now let's go, Felix brought his nannies brownies!" Yeeun dragged Jeno, running through the hallways until they turned a corner, bumping in to someone, Yeeun almost falling back but Jeno's chest saved her from a fall, the same couldn't be said for Renjun who fell right on his ass. 

"I'm sorry!" Yeeun said, trying to pick up Renjun's bag but Jaemin beat her to it. 

Jaemin picked the older up by his waist, "Are you okay?" Renjun dusted himself off and nodded. 

"I'm so sorry Renjun." Yeeun apologized again, Jeno would've said something but he was very distracted with the hand that was still wrapped tightly around Renjun's waist. 

"It's okay." Renjun laughed awkwardly, taking his backpack back from Jaemin and stealing a glance at Jeno. 

"Not really, you should watch where you're going next time." Jaemin muttered underneath his breath. Renjun's eyes widened at the passive aggressive comment, oh no.

Yeeun rose an eyebrow at him, her tongue clicking against her cheek, "Excuse me."

"Jaemin, it's fine." The two exchanged a look of mutual understanding that if Jaemin tried something, it would not go unheard of by Renjun later. 

"Listen to your boyfriend Jaemin. No one wants to see you throw one of your little fits." Yeeun scoffed.

That caught not only Jaemin but Jeno off guard. Renjun saw Jaemin's eyes grow soft, something only Renjun was able to tell from seeing it multiple times in the last three weeks. But they quickly hardened and he made eye contact with Jeno, for the first time.....in three weeks. 

"So you're telling random strangers about us now." Jaemin said sternly. 

"Did you tell her I'm an annoying brat. Did you tell her that it's my fault we don't talk." Silence. 

"Was this just another one of my 'little fits' to you. I'm sorry I'm not as mature as you, Lee Jeno." Jaemin scoffed. 

"But you really just let us fall apart so easily. Who even is this girl? Was I that easy to replace." Jeno stood there silently, he seemed stuck. 

"And I'm sorry. Because it is my fault. I should've respected your decision and I would've said something earlier but you moved on so fast and you didn't even try to talk to me and I was scared." Renjun could feel the tears coming to Jaemin's eyes, like they always did when he started talking or thinking about Jeno. But when he spoke again his voice returned to normal and his eyes were dry. 

"I was scared that it was actually over and now I'm thinking that maybe all those terrible thoughts were right. I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you Jeno. I know I'm immature and it was about time you got annoyed with me." 

"So now there's just leaving this in a good place." Jaemin put his hand out. Definitely an odd way to end a friendship but what would Renjun know, he's had a total of one friend in his lifetime. 

Jeno blinked. Renjun could see the absolute confusion on his face. 

They stood in front of each other for what seemed like an awkward amount of time before Jaemin finally said something.

"Hello? Shake the hand." 

Jeno looked at Jaemin's hand like it was foreign, then slowly shook his head. 

"Well.....we could fist bump instead I guess." Jaemin looked back at Renjun, wondering where he went wrong. 

"No." Jeno finally said, putting both his hands behind his back.

"What? Why not?" 

"I don't want to." Jeno said, his voice small.

A frown fell over Jaemin's face, not a very good sign. 

"Fine. Goodbye then." Jaemin took Renjun by the hand and pulled him away from the two. 

Renjun groaned in his head, they were both impossible and he was sure he'd have to start carrying tissues around. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	15. make up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad @ renniepie_
> 
> twitter @ renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Jaemie....I'm sorry I took the last piece of the candy. I don't want you to be sad so I got you a bigger one!" Baby Jeno held out the chocolate bar, hoping it was enough to win Jaemin back. 

Jaemin's face was taken over by teeth, a dazzling smile, he pulled Jeno in to a big hug, "Jeno, you're the best!"

Jeno blushed at the words, "No, you are!"

"Earth to Jenoooo." Yeeun snapped her fingers. 

"What?" 

"That was definitely the longest you've ignored me. What were you thinking about this time." Yeeun took a sip of her coffee.

"Uhm....remember when you said I could invite Renjun to the get together?" Yeeun nodded. 

"Can the invitation be extended to two more?" Jeno smiled. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"An invite? With me and Jaemin?" Donghyuck questioned, peering over at Renjun's phone.

Jeno   
Hey! Yeeun's throwing that little get together tonight 

Jeno  
You're still invited btw, bring Jaemin and Donghyuck with you!

"Seems fishy." Donghyuck concluded, leaving it at that and going back to his own phone, his fingers typing away, which was much fishier. 

Being Donghyuck's best and only friend for so long Renjun knew that, all though, Donghyuck is like any other teenager and is glued to his phone 24/7, he's more of a scrolling guy. Scrolling means shopping, going through gossip online, Instagram. All very normal for Donghyuck. Typing usually means communication, unless he's typing in credit card numbers which is already an unlikely situation because he already has every single one of his dads credit cards in his apple wallet. He could be texting his one only other friend but that's already ruled out because Na Jaemin is on the other side of Renjun. Plus, the little twinkle of excitement in Donghyuck's eye couldn't be brought by Jaemin but Renjun decided to leave it alone for now since he was busy being caught in the middle of a damaged childhood friendship. 

"I'm definitely not going to that." Jaemin stated grumpily, not taking his eyes off of Donghyuck's tv, a blanket wrapped around his head and very cuddled in to Renjun's side. 

"Yeah, not really my type of crowd ya kno." Donghyuck agreed, as if any crowd was his type of crowd. 

Renjun sighed, "Come on guys, we need to get out of this bed at some point. This is all we do anymore. Let's talk to people!" 

Donghyuck snorted at the comment, "Who even are you?" 

Donghyuck knew Renjun just as well as Renjun knew Donghyuck, it was a deadly combination.

Renjun stood up, upsetting the balance of comfort the three had achieved from laying down for three hours. Jaemin and Donghyuck groaned in annoyance. 

"Jaemin, I love you but all you're doing is moping so I'm forcing you off the bed. And Donghyuck, you can text whoever you've been texting for the past 2 hours just as easily at the party." Donghyuck's face blushed. 

This immediately put Jaemin out of his sulky mood, teasing was always too good to miss out on. 

"Is it Mark..." Jaemin smiled when the red on Donghyuck's face deepened. 

"It's Mark! What are y'all talking about." Jaemin reached over to snatch Donghyuck's phone away but Donghyuck was quick to bring his phone to his chest. 

"It's none of your business. Go awayy." Donghyuck tried shaking Jaemin off of him and when that failed, he opted with curling up in a ball around his phone.

"Well now that we're all awake, Donghyuck this is the only time I'll ever allow you to dress me." 

Donghyuck's head immediately shot up, "You're serious?" 

Renjun sighed, "Yup." 

He knew Donghyuck couldn't resist the offer. 

"Oh, we're definitely going to this party." Donghyuck stood from the bed and ran to his closet.

Jaemin whined, "You gave in so easily." 

Donghyuck ignored the boy and came back with an arm full of clothing.

"I've been meaning for you to try these pants on." Donghyuck threw an outfit at Renjun, who gave Donghyuck a thumbs up and went in to the closet to change. 

"And you can wear this." Donghyuck had something for Jaemin too. 

"This is gonna be so awkward." Jaemin groaned, taking his shirt off. 

Donghyuck shrugged, "Yeah, it's gonna be lame but you don't have to go. He can't force you to." 

"Yeah but if I don't go, that leaves Jeno and Renjun alone. That's worse than any awkward interaction I have to deal with." Jaemin whispered. Donghyuck nodded, he decided not to tell Jaemin that it wouldn't be the first time they were alone together.

"I feel like this is over dressed." Renjun said coming out of the closet. 

Donghyuck gasped, "You're so pretty, I could cry."

Renjun looked at himself in the mirror, "This is weird." 

"Renjun, it's literally a good pair of pants and a t-shirt. You wear the same thing everyday except trashier." Renjun scoffed and stared a little longer, he did wear the same thing everyday, Donghyuck's clothes were just so much more flattering. 

"You look amazing." Jaemin said, sitting on the ground, staring up at Renjun. Renjun looked over at him, his mouth was agape and he had something unreadable to Renjun in his eyes. It wasn't like they didn't usually compliment each other but for whatever reason it was making Renjun hot. 

The moment ended when Donghyuck kicked Jaemin, "Close your mouth and get up, you need to get dressed too." 

"Ow, I'm gonna wet your bed if you kick me again." Jaemin threatened. 

"Ew, the only thing i'll be kicking, is you, out of my house if you ever say that again." Donghyuck dragged Jaemin to his closet, Jaemin barely trying to wiggle out of his grasp. 

Renjun was glad they moved on, he looked at himself in the mirror one more time, the little blush on his cheeks still visible, he breathed in and followed them to the closet. 

"Donghyuck, did you really have to take two hours to get ready." Renjun sighed, they were an entire hour late but walked the steps up to Yeeun's house anyway.

"No but you were rushing me." Donghyuck rolled his eyes. 

Renjun looked back at Jaemin who was silent the entire ride there, his arms were crossed over his chest and he didn't seem like he was ready to have fun anytime soon. 

"Ready?" Renjun asked, mostly asking Jaemin, he felt bad for forcing him along but he was hoping that maybe this time, they would maybe get along just a little bit. 

Jaemin gave a small nod and Renjun smiled before knocking on the door. 

The door was swung open by a drunken Yeeun, her eyes were tainted red and she smelled of marijuana.

"Oh....y'all came! Jeno!" Yeeun called, she giggled and waved them inside. 

"Your outfit's stunning Renjun." She complimented.

"And Donghyuck, your makeup is so pretty." Her and Jaemin made eye contact but she said nothing else as Jeno excitedly walked up to them.

"Hey guys." Jeno greeted.

"What a bitch." Jaemin muttered under his breath so only Donghyuck could hear. Donghyuck snorted and shook Jeno's hand.

"I'm glad y'all could make it." Jeno smiled, He and Jaemin held eye contact for one second before Jaemin looked away, he lead them to the living room where everyone was sitting in a circle on the floor.

The boys looked a little surprised at the addition of people, probably just the addition of Jaemin. The room was silent for only a second before drunken Yangyang shrieked, "Na Jaemin, I miss you! Get over here!" 

The rest laughed and Jaemin suppressed a little smile before sitting next to Yangyang and being attacked with hugs. 

"You've met Renjun. And Donghyuck of course." Jeno introduced. Renjun smiled politely and took a seat next to Jaemin, Donghyuck to his right. 

"Honestly, all we were doing was talking shit before y'all got here." Yangyang shrugged, passing the three of them drinks. 

"Yeah, I heard Sunmi's dad was a drug dealer. He's going to prison big time." Hyunjin spilled.

"Shame. He used to prescribe me my adderall." Donghyuck said casually. 

They all laughed, Donghyuck looked at Renjun confused but Renjun didn't see what was funny either. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Jeno watched as Jaemin slowly grew more intoxicated. He'd seen it way too many times before, many nights, with many different experiences. 

Jeno enjoyed being able to watch, he'd missed it. Although half of the time it would end in Jeno cleaning his puke, the other half in long make out sessions but neither of those would happen tonight. It would be more enjoyable if Jaemin hadn't already entered the cuddle stage, usually Jeno was the victim of Jaemin's indestructible grip but his prey had shifted. 

Jeno didn't take Renjun for someone who enjoyed being smothered but he didn't seem to mind when it was Jaemin. Who would though. 

It seemed like Renjun was also a little drunk, he was smiling more than usual and he would giggle every time Jaemin would whisper something in his ear. 

He couldn't help but be bothered by it. 

"Stare a little harder, won't you." Yeeun's muttering broke his train of thought. Was he being that obvious? 

"I don't like it." Yeeun hummed at his comment, watching them with him. 

Jeno had no one to blame though, he had no reason to be angry. Jeno ended it, he didn't try to apologize and it's not like either boy belonged to him anyway, He had no right to be upset. 

"Oh my god and then Jeno had to save me from drowning. I threw up for like 3 hours that night." Jeno looked up at the mention of his name. 

"Huh?" 

"When Jaemin jumped off the roof in to the pool." Lucas laughed, the rest of the group cracking up at the memory. 

"I can't believe you'd do that." Renjun shook his head in disbelief.

Jeno chuckled at the story, "Believe it, I had to clean him up." 

"Sowyyy..." Jaemin pouted. Jeno wondered how long his mind had been wandering, Jaemin had entered the cute phase. 

Jeno smiled, "Sure you are."

Jaemin actually smiled back, he'd gotten drunk enough to forget that he hated him Jeno assumed, they held each other's eyes, he missed his eyes.

"Snack run!!!" Felix shouted. Their gaze broke, Jaemin standing up in agreement.

"Wait. Who's sober enough to drive." Yeeun precautioned.

"Yeeun....like 2 of us know how to drive." Lucas snorted, he hit her playfully in the arm. Yeeun rolled her eyes, Jeno could hear her thoughts, 'stupid rich kids'.

"We can take my car." Donghyuck offered, looking down at his phone. 

"Yes, diamond windows." Felix muttered to Changbin. 

"Dude, I don't think it works that way."

They walked out to Donghyuck's limo and drove to the closet convenience store, they all ran in, drunken and rowdy.

Jeno had to admit he was definitely drunk but not as drunk as the rest of them, he always loved observing. He watched as Hyunjin threw a pack of skittles at Changbin and as Lucas danced around with Yeeun through the aisles and even Renjun who leaned on Donghyuck's shoulder and was giggling at their actions. Renjun was also an observer, his eyes took in everything. He was so much like him, it reminded Jeno why he liked him enough to start a fight with his best friend. That back fired on him didn't it.

Jeno heard a giggle behind him, he turned around to see Jaemin's smile. It still never, ever failed to make Jeno's heart clench. 

"They're cute." Jaemin watched. 

"Yeah." Jaemin turned to face him and Jeno hadn't been that close to him in a while. He'd missed his pretty lips. Why? 

Jeno called it off. Why did he still miss it? He was ready to move on, he had found someone to move on with. His mind flashed to every other moment they'd kissed, it went back to the first time. 

"Jaemin....we can't." 

"Why not?"

"Because.....Isn't it weird?" 

"Do you like it?" Jaemin had asked, his eyes big and questioning. 

"....yeah." 

"Then why can't we? If you like something, you do it, don't you?" Jaemin stated. 

Jeno nodded with uncertainty but when Jaemin leaned in again, his excitement overcame the feeling. 

"This song reminds me of you." Jaemin smiled, swaying to the song that was playing in the convenience store. Jeno had never heard the song before but when he tried to ask him about it Jaemin had ran off. 

Jeno watched as he pulled Renjun from Donghyuck's shoulder and forced him to dance. Renjun giggled and held his ground, shaking his head and his arm, trying to weaken Jaemin's grip. 

Jaemin pulled harder and Renjun fell over in to his chest. Jaemin gave him a smile and swayed him around, holding both of his hands. Renjun tripped over his feet and Jaemin laughed at how klutzy the boy was. 

They looked good together. So good. When could Jeno ever compete with either of them. Maybe he was just meant to be alone. Jeno chugged whatever he had left in his bottle and dunked it in to the nearest bin.

"I'm sorry." Jeno felt Yeeun's hand wrap around his. 

"I guess my advice was shit." Jeno looked over at Yeeun, he laid his head on her shoulder.

"It's okay, it's not your fault." Jeno watched as Jaemin tried to spin Renjun around. 

"I think they're meant for each other. It's probably for the best." Yeeun squeezed his hand tightly.

"I think......if you feel passionately about someone, you go after them. Even if it might be both of them." Jeno's eyebrows rose. 

"Both of them?" He looked up at Yeeun in confusion. 

"This one you have to figure out for yourself." Yeeun winked, dropping Jeno's hand.

"OKAY! PAY FOR YOUR SHIT AND LET'S GO!" Yeeun clapped her hands loudly. 

Both of them. 

Jaemin tried shoving a Donut in to Donghyuck's mouth but Donghyuck turned away in disgust. 

They all walked back to the car and Jeno knew he was really drunk when instead of walking in to the limo, he kinda just fell inside. 

"Are you okay?" Renjun laughed, helping him in to his seat. 

"Yeah, are you?" Jeno asked out of habit, they sat next to each other as the rest of the group climbed in.

"Not gonna lie." Renjun said quietly. 

"I don't get drunk very often....actually ever. I'm always surrounded by drunk people but I think the uncertainty of my life gives me control issues, so I always just judge them instead of joining." Renjun stuffed an entire donut down his mouth. 

"But this is fun! I don't know why I don't do it more often." Jeno laughed then furrowed his eyebrows. 

That was a randomly deep comment, he stared at Renjun realizing he was still pretty mysterious to him. That was the first time he'd opened up to him, he'd have to remember to get him drunk in the future. 

Future. 

With Renjun? 

"Why is your life so uncertain?" Jeno decided to ask, stealing a powdered donut from the bag on his lap. 

"My mom and stuff. I feel like she's constantly hiding something and it terrifies me. Sometimes I think I'm overthinking but my brother just adds on to it." Renjun nodded, like he was thinking about it himself. 

"That's deep shit man. Sometimes I think my mom is fucking her students." Yangyang said as he played on his phone with Jaemin. 

Jeno hadn't realized they were being overheard but he'd already forgotten what the conversation was about. 

"Sometimes I'm pretty sure I'm gay." Felix said, lighting a blunt in the car.

"Dude...I think that too sometimes....is that weird." Lucas agreed, taking the blunt from Felix. 

Jaemin burst out laughing, "Did y'all just realize that?" 

"God, you guys are idiots and you're smoking in my car!" Donghyuck groaned. 

"Donghyuck, don't you agree though? Not gonna lie, I think you're pretty as fuck." Lucas winked. 

"First off, I AM gay. Second, ewww." Everyone laughed at the boy. 

"If anyone needs a smoke Donghyuck, it's you." Jeno laughed as Lucas tried teaching Donghyuck how to inhale but his attention was caught by Renjun who fell on to his shoulder laughing. 

Jeno turned to see Jaemin shooting hearts at Renjun, sending the boy in to fits of giggles. Jeno smiled at the sight of both of them and laid his head on Renjun's. 

He heard Jaemin's aw and a flash went of in the car, "You two are the cutest." 

Us two? 

Both of us?

"Ok guys, out of the car." Yeeun opened both doors and the air outside was so much clearer, less muggy from the smoke. He stumbled out and the air hit Jeno's face so nicely, he felt like laying on the ground and waiting for it to reach his brain, so that maybe his mind could feel clearer too. 

"Oh no. Jeno's on the ground." He heard Yangyang say. 

Jeno opened his eyes to see Jaemin looking down at him, "Hey, what you doing hun?" 

Jeno smiled, Jaemin was just so goddamn pretty. 

"I know I'm pretty but I didn't know it would knock you off your feet." Jaemin laughed, he grabbed Jeno by the arm and lifted him up. 

Jeno felt another presence to the left of him, it was Renjun, his arm had somehow gotten around his shoulder. 

Jeno looked to his right side and Jaemin was still there! 

"I haven't seen you drunker than me in forever." Jaemin laughed. 

"Well....that's because if I'm more drunk, who's supposed to take care of you?" Jeno slurred together, his head to mouth filter was slowly escaping him. 

"Now you have Renjun, so it's okay." Jeno smiled, a bittersweet smile but he was glad his Jaemin was happy. 

"Jeno.....I'm gonna be honest with you." Renjun started, "You might have to take your job back." Renjun giggled, tripping and almost dropping Jeno in the process.

"Woah woah woah careful. I can not believe I'm the most sober one here, that's a true milestone." Jeno laughed a little too hard at Jaemin's comment. 

They finally made it inside after what seemed like forever, "I'll take Jeno to the bathroom, check up on Donghyuck. I don't trust Lucas." 

Renjun nodded and left Jeno's side, Jeno frowned at the emptiness of it. Jaemin took Jeno and sat him on the hood of the toilet in one of Yeeun's bathrooms. 

"Aww, Renjun's gone." Jeno pouted. Jaemin laughed a little and tilted Jeno's head back. 

"Drink this." Jeno obeyed as Jaemin put a water bottle to his lips and tipped it in to his mouth. 

"Why'd he leave, call him back." Jeno whined. 

"He'll be back." Jaemin said, splashing cold water on Jeno's face. Jeno smiled up at him as Jaemin aggressively rubbed his face with water. He was really bad at sobering people up but that was okay because at least he was with him. 

"What about you?" Jeno asked. 

"What about me?" Jaemin dried his face with a towel and took a hairband that was sitting on the sink, pulling Jeno's hair back with it. 

"When will you be back?" Jaemin seemed to sober up at the comment but stayed silent, unsure of what to say or how to react. 

"Jaemin, I don't know who I am without you." Jeno's head fell on to the wall next to him with a small thud. Jeno looked up at him, his vision was blurry for whatever reason, he couldn't see a reaction.

"I miss you so much it hurts. The thought that you were able to give me up is unbearable." Jeno could feel the warmth rise to his face and the tears start flooding his eyes. 

"How can you live without me if my whole world is you. There's not a second I don't think about you, there's no way I could ever live a life without you."

"And I'm sorry I said all those things. I don't mean them, I would give everything up if it means I could just be around you. You don't have to be exclusively with me and you can be with Renjun if it makes you happy, just please keep me around." Jeno choked, he didn't realize he'd started full out sobbing.

"Jeno shut up." Jaemin sniffled. 

Jaemin was crouched in front of him, his pretty face covered in tears. Jaemin dragged Jeno to the floor and sat next to him. 

"Don't apologize."

"I hate myself for ever making you think that my world doesn't revolve around you. I've missed you so much, the past 3 weeks feels like a year."   
Jaemin held Jeno's face firmly in his hands so he would stop crying. 

"I love you so much and I'm so sorry I got mad for such a dumb reason. I should've respected your boundaries and I'm literally the worst. I didn't mean to be so stubborn it would separate us for this long." 

Jeno choked out a laugh, "They were stupid boundaries anyway." 

Jeno pulled Jaemin by his shirt and their lips clashed, it had happened a thousand times before but that time felt like the first time in ages. It was getting in bed at the end of the most exhausting day or taking off your heels after a long night of clubbing. 

It was the best kiss Jeno ever had, filled with tears and mucus and tasting slightly of beer and weed, it was the first time his nerves were truly at rest in what felt like forever. 

They pulled apart and Jaemin pulled him in to a painful hug. 

"Ouch." Jeno groaned but returned the hug anyway. 

The bathroom door opened and the two separated to look up at a confused Renjun. 

"THEY MADE UP!!" He cheered, jumping up and down receiving cheers from the living room. Jeno heard hurried footsteps to the bathroom. 

"Oh, praise whoever created this god forsaken earth." Donghyuck said as he hugged Renjun.

"No more weeping Na Jaemin." Donghyuck looked close to tears.

"Well that's mean." Jaemin pouted from Jeno's chest. 

"Where is this weird burst of happiness coming from. I think I need to puke or something." Renjun said genuinely confused.

"Oh whatever, get in here." Jaemin pulled him in to the hug, Jeno wrapped his arms around the both of them. 

Both of them.

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	16. confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wattpad and twitter: @renniepie_
> 
> I POSTED THIS CHAPTER ON THE WRONG BOOK 
> 
> anyway I have too many things to write for this book

𖧷𖧋𖧷

Jeno couldn't lie, it was great being with Jaemin again and joining whatever the three had going on. They would do nothing but lay in bed for hours at a time and get up only to grab food, it was kind of concerning but fun nonetheless. He'd seen Renjun bubblier than he'd ever gotten to see him before, weirdly they would go out every night, when Jeno asked Jaemin about it, all he did was shrug and say 'Renjun says it's to help with his family income'. 

Jeno was also able to see Donghyuck bubbly and NICE, which was something very odd to the eyes. He hadn't fully warmed up to Jeno yet, not the way he was with Jaemin. They were all strangely cuddly and Jeno hadn't had the chance to be apart of it yet, he felt like he missed something, that the boys had bonded already and he was infiltrating their friendship. 

Being 'friends' with Jaemin was a very loose term. They were back at Jeno's house alone, they found time to themselves from time to time. 

Jaemin kissed down Jeno's body, letting his lips linger every time he placed his lips on his skin. He sat on his hips and smiled down at him. 

"I've missed you." Jaemin whispered. 

They were back to what they were, Jeno knew he should do something about it but if Yeeun was right about one thing.......it was that he was weak. 

Jeno raised his hand to hold Jaemin's chin in his hand, he pulled his face to his own and left a gentle kiss on his lips, "I've missed you too." 

They were way more intimate than before, their kisses were sweeter than usual and Jeno couldn't get enough of him. It was to make up for all the time they spent apart and Jeno didn't want to fuck it up by saying something.

Jeno held Jaemin's waist in his hands, massaging him with his thumbs. 

"I planned a lunch date tomorrow with hyuckie and Renjun, will you come?" Jaemin pouted. 

"Of course." 

It was hard focusing on all the negatives of their relationship but Jaemin was happy and he was happy, so why ruin it by talking out all the details. It also didn't help that Jeno had those details mixed up in his head. What about his feelings for Renjun. He was asking to much of the universe, he couldn't even get the boy he'd known for 16 years. 

"Yay, ima go to the bathroom real quick and text the two about it." Jaemin hopped off of him and ran out the room. 

Jeno sat up and took his phone from the bedside table. He swiped through the messages Yeeun sent him. 

yeeun🥴💞  
how is plan jaerenjen going??? 

yeeun🥴💞  
you out here squeezing two diff pair of ass cheeks yet orrrr???

yeeun🥴💞  
jen ur rlly out here

yeeun🥴💞  
i can't even get one pair 

yeeun🥴💞  
spare some cooch pls 

jeno   
i wish 

jeno   
i haven't made much progress

jeno   
the SEX with jaemin tho

jeno   
immaculate 

jeno   
but i feel like there's this huge elephant in the room ??? we haven't talked about anything ..

yeeun🥴💞  
smh, that na jaemin rlly is an interesting character 

jeno   
ig 

jeno   
im just scared to bring it up 

yeeun🥴💞  
take time to gather ur thoughts

yeeun🥴💞  
no one's going anywhere 

jeno   
i'll try

jeno   
it's just confusing and renjun isn't comfortable with me the same way he is with jaemin yet 

yeeun🥴💞   
eekkk .... he seems a lil closed off

yeeun🥴💞  
give him reasons to trust you 

jeno   
how ? 

yeeun🥴💞  
idk man, u know him better than i do

Jaemin bounced back in to the room, falling on to the bed next to him. Jaemin tried to peer at his phone but Jeno turned it off immediately. 

Jaemin raised a brow, "Who were you texting?" 

Jeno shrugged, trying to act casual, "Just Yeeun." 

Jaemin grimaced, "You're still friends with her? Ew."

"Y'all got off on the wrong foot. She's not as bad as she seems." Jeno reassured. 

Jaemin rolled his eyes, "Sure she is. What were y'all talking about?" 

"Uh.. plans we have next week. She wanted to watch frozen 2 or some shit." Jeno lied. 

Jaemin squinted his eyes, "You should watch it with me first." 

Jeno laughed, "Sure, why not."

Jaemin picked up his phone, probably texting Donghyuck and Renjun about his plans.

Jeno's phone buzzed and he grabbed it before Jaemin's attention could be brought back to him. 

yeeun🥴💞  
Im having a sleepover with Lucas 

yeeun🥴💞  
cried ab his girl problems all night

yeeun🥴💞  
srsly I'm just a mom to this group 

yeeun🥴💞  
how am I giving y'all relationship advice and I'm not even in one 

jeno  
lmao, relationship with who? 

yeeun🥴💞  
fuck if I know 

yeeun🥴💞  
he was drunk af

yeeun🥴💞  
most of what he was saying was incoherent 

yeeun🥴💞  
but he's sleeping soundly rn 🥰

yeeun🥴💞  
very cute 

yeeun🥴💞   
look at this photo he took on my phone 

yeeun🥴💞  
*I’m sry y’all can’t see this photo* 🥺

jeno  
awww

jeno   
uwu meter = broken 

yeeun🥴💞  
ahahahaha 

"What relationship advice is she giving you?" Jaemin asked, peering over at his phone. 

Jeno jumped, "Wow, aren't you nosey?" 

Jaemin scoffed defensively, "Well I just want to know what she's saying about me." 

Jeno blinked, "Who said it was about you?" 

Jaemin went stiff, "Oh...sorry, I was just assuming. That was dumb of me to say." 

Jeno held Jaemin's hand, "No sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out that way. Just.....what is our relationship?" 

Jeno could see the slight panic in Jaemin's eyes but he quickly hid it and kissed Jeno, "Our relationship is that I love you." 

Jaemin smiled and Jeno just went with it because he wasn't ready for the conversation yet, "Let's raid your fridge!!" 

Jeno laughed and followed Jaemin downstairs.

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Renjunnnnn.....IM BORED!" Donghyuck bothered. 

"Hyuck I fucking know. YOU'VE SAID IT A THOUSAND TIMES NOW." Renjun threw a pillow straight at Donghyuck's face. 

"We should go to my house. We can make *butlers name* make us something gourmet!" Donghyuck said for the millionth time, dodging the pillow like he was used to it because he was. 

"Or you can walk downstairs and get something from the fridge." Renjun rolled his eyes. 

"Fine but you're coming with." Donghyuck pulled Renjun on his feet, dragging him out the door. 

"I seriously regret this friendship sometimes." Renjun opened the door to see Sicheng in the hallway.....with a boy.

"Winwin if you seriously think I'm gonna let you even try to do that you're fucking insane. It would take forever to plan and even if you did take the time, it's a fucking death sentence." They were muttering, the taller boy was upset about something. He had a head of long white hair wrapped in a bandana and Sicheng had a look of annoyance on his face. 

"I don't need your permission to do anything. You aren't my dad and I've been doing this long enough to pull it off. Know your pla-"

"Oh hi!" The white haired boy took his attention off of Sicheng to look at Renjun. His menacing appearance that he had while talking to Sicheng disappeared and was replaced with the brightest, kindest smile. It reminded Renjun of Jaemin. 

Renjun blinked, "Oh... hi?" 

The boy went up to him to shake his hand, "You must be Win- Sicheng's little brother." 

Renjun nodded and looked at Sicheng for an explanation. 

"Uh, this is Yuta." Sicheng said plainly. 

"Hi Yuta, you're Sicheng's.....?" 

"Uh....Friend?" Sicheng said quickly, with a hint of unsureness in his voice. Hearing the word friend out of Sicheng's mouth was unnatural, he'd never brought anyone home before. 

"Wow, that's the first time he's ever acknowledged that I have any kind of place in his life." Yuta smiled brightly.

Renjun couldn't help but smile at the comment, he liked the white haired boy, Yuta.

Sicheng rolled his eyes, "If you want to see yourself out, Renjun can show you the door." Sicheng went inside his room, slamming the door behind him.

Yuta blinked at the door, sighing and then giving another smile to Renjun. 

"So....what are y'all up to?" Yuta asked as they walked down the stairs. 

"Getting snacks." Donghyuck shrugged.

"Nice, let me join you before I get fully kicked out." Yuta followed them in to the kitchen. 

"I'm Donghyuck by the way." Donghyuck introduced himself.

"Hi Donghyuck, are y'all boyfriends?" Yuta asked politely. 

"He wishes." Donghyuck flipped his bangs to the side. Renjun rolled his eyes.

"No, he's just a small tick that found his way on to the part of my back I can't reach." Donghyuck gasped in offense.

"Fantastic."

"So what were you guys talking about." Renjun decided to nose around.

"Just grown up things." Yuta ate Sicheng's favorite pita chips casually.

Renjun scoffed, "I know what he does, you're not protecting me from anything. I just don't want him to be in danger. I rarely see him not chill and recently he's been angrier." 

Yuta stopped eating the chips and stared at Renjun, probably attempting to make something up. He cleaned his hands on his pants and winked. 

"If you want to know anything, ask your brother. I'll see myself out." Yuta stood up and walked out the room. He was suave, his movements smooth and Renjun wondered how the two met. He was straight out of a movie. 

"He's nice." Donghyuck said.

Renjun hummed, "Wonder how he got interested in Sicheng." 

Donghyuck dipped his strawberries in to the spinach dip. Renjun grimaced. 

"Ew, what are you doing?" 

Donghyuck giggled with the strawberry in his mouth, "It's good, try it!"

He shoved in to Renjun's face, "Dude, quit it." 

"Try it!!!" Renjun knocked the strawberry out of Donghyuck's hand, only for Donghyuck to pick it up and chase him around with it.

"Stop!"

𖧷𖧋𖧷


	17. winwin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: violence? blood ? 
> 
> socials: 
> 
> tiktok: @renniepie   
> wattpad: @renniepie_  
> twitter: @renniepie_

𖧷𖧋𖧷

There was never a part of Sicheng's life that was peaceful. 

He kept himself and his baby brother alive by pick pocketing anything he could, their biological mother unworthy of them, he kept that up until he'd meet Huang Bao at the age of 10 years old. 

She was young and pretty and knew how it was like for him, she'd lived the same way for much longer.

They'd known and lived together in China for a short time but the few months that they'd known each other brought them closer than he'd ever been with anyone, he'd seen her more as a sister than a mother and she took care of Renjun better than he ever could.

So when she came back one day with news that she was moving to Korea and she wanted to take them both, he'd agree to it. Who was he to turn her down. 

He'd had many questions after that day, like how she'd gathered enough money for the plane ride there or enough money for the amazing apartment they were living in and who in the world put the loudest baby he'd ever met in her belly but she'd never answer his billions of questions and over time, he forgot about them. Willing to forget because at least now he was living life safely or at least that's what he thought.

As the years flew by, Bao would mysteriously leave late at night and come back with tons of money that she'd hide away. 

"Where are you getting all that money from?" Sicheng asked one day, too curios to keep it in.

Bao had jumped, surprised he wasn't sleeping, "I've been doing some jobs for extra cash." 

Sicheng nodded, his 14 year old brain processing the information, "For what?" 

"You know...for a bigger house that we could all live in, in the future!" Bao has answered with a smile but it sat with Sicheng weirdly. 

He didn't question it again, until Sicheng turned 16 and she started asking for help with gaining this mystery money. 

Sicheng had noticed her teaching Renjun how to play with her cards for a while but he had thought nothing of it. She'd tried teaching him but it failed miserably.

So he went back to pickpocketing again but this time he had bigger prey, they'd always get invited to rich parties and Sicheng was always so quiet and stealthy it was like taking candy from a baby. If candy was thousands of dollars.

But it wasn't enough. 

Bao had put Sicheng in self defense classes, gymnastics and even fencing. Sicheng, yet again hadn't questioned it, he just assumed it was to make up for the fact that he refused to go to school.

He'd gotten good at it, he was usually really good at physical things like that so it was actually kind of fun.

By then, they'd move in to an even bigger apartment, looking over all of Seoul.

So when Sicheng asked if this was what she'd been saving up for, he'd expected a yes. 

"You know those lessons you've been taking?" Bao asked one day.

"Yeah." Sicheng said with a mouthful of toast. 

"Maybe we could put them to use?" Bao seemed nervous to explain what she meant.

When she finally did, let's just say he was more than just a little scared.

"Killing people?" Sicheng's eyes widened in fear and curiosity.

"Bad people. Killing bad people." Bao corrected.

"Okay....and how would I do that?" Bao had taken him to a closet in her room, where she had an array of weapons, real swords, and strong metal knives. 

It was a lot for Sicheng to take in but she'd explained that there was tons of money they could make from ridding the world of wicked people. At least that's what he reminded himself, to cope.

His first kill was the most stressful thing he'd ever done, he remembers it like it was yesterday.

"So this is who you're going after. He'll be surrounded by people so try to get him separated from them and don't be scared. I believe in you." Bao had told him, he'd gotten dressed in all black, his face hidden by a scarf and his chest protected with a padded vest.

"Good luck!" And soon after that, he was on a roof, staring at his target.

He'd recognized him from the photo Bao showed him and he indeed had been surrounded by people but they seemed relaxed, not at all expecting an attack from a 18 year old amateur boy, who'd never killed anyone and was holding two deadly swords he barely knew how to use on his back.

He needed a way to distract the rest of the group, to lead them away so he could just run in and do the deed. 

He'd looked around, it was a crowded area, full of buildings, easy to hide. It ended with him throwing a large brick he'd found on the roof in to a trash can, causing enough noise to make them concerned and run over to it and when he got the chance, he'd gotten off the roof and pulled his sword out, running by and slitting the man's throat, watching him fall for just a millisecond before he'd started running again.

He'd cry about that for nights and nights to come. 

Now he was used to it, it was a terrible thing to get used to but that's just how the world worked.

And when they finally did get that mansion that Bao had been talking about, he wondered why he was still out and about in the middle of the night, assassinating people that weren't aware that their last breath would be taken by some random boy from China that was just doing what he was told blindly. 

Seeing Renjun come home at the same time as him, looking exhausted every night, didn't help either. 

If he wasn't murdering for at least the benefit of his family, what was he doing it for. He still didn't question Bao though, he would trust her until his last dying breath. 

Well, until he'd met someone that would change all of that.

"Why do you even go to school? Just stay at home and sleep some more." Sicheng said over his omelet.

Renjun groaned and took an apple from the counter, "If I don't go to school, I'll be trapped sleeping all day and out all night." 

Sicheng hummed, "So it's better to just not sleep at all?" 

"If that's how it has to be." They ended their conversation when they heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Where's mom?!" Chenle screeched, running in to the kitchen, his backpack half open, spilling things and his hand holding a piece of paper.

"Out." Sicheng answered.

"Oh no! I forgot there was a field trip today and I haven't gotten my permission slip signed!" Chenle panicked. 

Renjun sighed, picking up the younger's mess. Sicheng smiled at the mess his littlest brother was.

"Bring it here." Chenle looked at Sicheng in panic but brought his permission slip to him, watching as Sicheng replicated their mothers name perfectly on the paper. Huang Bao. 

"Woah!" Chenle's eyes widened. "But that's illegal you know!" 

Sicheng snorted, if only he knew about all the other illegal things that happened in their household. 

"Hurry up, you'll be late." Chenle nodded, grabbing anything he could from the kitchen and shoving it in his lunch box. Renjun holding his backpack that he'd managed to drop. 

"Bye!" Chenle yelled, running outside. Renjun waved at Sicheng, following the boy out.

He finished the rest of his breakfast and made himself a coffee, reading a new book he'd just gotten. He was ten minutes in to reading when he heard the front door slam close. 

"Did the kids leave already?" Bao asked, walking in to the kitchen with a heavy looking manila folder. 

"Yeah, a couple minutes ago." Sicheng said, looking up from his book. 

"Aw, I didn't get to say bye." Bao pouted, placing the folder in front of Sicheng.

Sicheng observed it, wondering what it was and why it was so thick.

"This is a personal case that I need you to take care of for me." Bao smiled and Sicheng nodded, agreeing with no questions, per usual.

"When do you need it done?" Sicheng asked, going through the multiple pages. 

"As soon as you can, it might take a week or two. Don't go for it unless you're sure." 

Sicheng nodded, the man on the pages didn't look very threatening. He was thin and short, in desperate need of a sandwich. 

"I got information on his whereabouts for a month but after that it'll be hard to find out where he is, so you might wanna formulate something pretty quick." Bao said, looking over Sichengs shoulder. 

"Got it boss." 

Bao left a kiss on Sicheng's head, "Well, I have matters to attend to. Good luck babe." 

Sicheng took a sip of his coffee and continued analyzing the information. He had four opportunities for the kill, restaurant, party and casinos. 

Restaurant was definitely not the move, too in the open, what if there were children? Party was also a no, too many powerful people in one room, it had to be one of the casino dates. Sicheng decided he'd use the first date to analyze his crew and the second date for the kill. 

He spent the rest of the morning conducting a plan but was interrupted when he heard Donghyuck's loud voice. 

"Hey Sicheng." Donghyuck really knew how to make himself at home. Sicheng watched as Donghyuck raided the fridge. 

"Sorry about him." Renjun smiled. 

"That's okay, I needed a distraction." Sicheng hadn't realized he was sitting the entire afternoon.

"You seem busy." Renjun looked at the folders and back at Sicheng in understanding.

"Seems important to her, so yeah." Renjun nodded.

"We won't bother you more." He gestured at Donghyuck to follow him out of the kitchen. Donghyuck took out a box of strawberries and chocolate from the fridge and saluted to Sicheng as he walked away. 

Sicheng watched as Renjun rolled his eyes at the boy and pushed him towards the staircase. 

Sicheng was glad Renjun hadn't turned out like him, he was actually capable of making friends and properly getting along with people. 

It didn't bother Sicheng too much that the only people he spoke to were his family members, he didn't need anyone else. He let go of the thought and continued his work. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

"Be careful, he's a powerful man." Bao told Sicheng as Sicheng's prepared for that night, it seemed long ago now. They were in the basement, picking out the weapons he would use for the night. Always the swords, two knives he kept in his shoes, ninja stars with poison in the blades and a gun just in case. He'd rarely used it, Sicheng had perfected the art of the Samurai, it was much classier than any gun.

"When am I never not careful." Bao smiled at him. 

"He'll have a lot of people surrounding him. It's serious, I just want to remind you." 

Sicheng nodded and barely wondered who the man really was because he shouldn't have cared, if Bao wanted him gone, he was gone. 

That night Sicheng had gone to the first casino location. In a casino you could walk in wearing anything and people would just shrug it off. 

So Sicheng walked in his fully black clothing he usually wore as disguise but it looked like any other costume. 

It was a night of observation, at least it was supposed to be. The man was like how Bao warned, heavily guarded. There was no way to even look at him. 

The casino was full of people, some event had to be going on, it seemed busier than a casino would usually be but Sicheng had his focus on the man and his group of guards. He would have to find a way to penetrate through the armor of bodies. 

Sicheng followed them around the casino for what had to be about two hours, gathering any information he could, to see if the guards ever broke away but it was no hope, he was heavily protected. 

That was until they stepped outside, through the back of the building. Sicheng ran to the front door, he had to get around the building to see what was going on. He ran in to an alley next to the casino, until he saw light at the end of it. He found a half guarded staircase on the side of the building and scaled the wall the best he could. He lost a couple of minutes but he made it on the roof. 

Sicheng quietly ran across the roof, his footsteps used to being silent. Once he got to the back of the building he peered over the edge, just enough to see what was going on without getting caught. He had a perfect view of his target, the skinny pale looking man. He was still surrounded but it wasn't like anyone could protect him from the sky. 

It seemed like some deal was being worked out but Sicheng could care less, the only thing he could think about was how he had a perfect shot from where he was at. If he just threw a star to the throat he wouldn't have to hunt him down another time, Sicheng wasn't sure if he would even have another chance to begin with. 

Sicheng watched the guards, none of them were looking in the air. If he threw the star, Sicheng knew he wouldn't miss, the only problem was the escape, could he outrun the guards, would they chase him. He couldn't climb down the same stairs he used to climb up it was too close to where they were, he would have to jump from another place off the roof. His adrenaline was starting to run, he was sure he could figure the rest out as it happened. Sicheng reached slowly down to his pocket for the star, he felt it between his fingers and slipped it out quietly. He took another peek over the edge of the roof, there was a gap right between the guards heads, if he missed he would never get another chance. It only had to pierce him to kill him, it didn't have to land directly on his head, the poison would do the work. 

Sicheng focused all his concentration on his aim, his breath slowed and his eyes focused on the target, ignoring everything else. He pulled his arm back, his movements were smooth, hidden, he would have to throw it and run for his life in a seconds worth of time. 

Sicheng took his last deep breath but before he could swing he heard the click of a gun. It wasn't any guard in front of him, it had come from directly behind him. Sicheng stayed still, his concentration on his target completely broken, his arm still in air. 

"Who are you?" A voice whispered behind him. Sicheng said nothing, his mind searched for a way out. The star was still in his hand, if he could get a look behind him, he'd be able to pierce the voice behind him but that possibility could also end with a bullet in his head. 

"Answer the question. Who are you?" Sicheng ignored the voice and tried to quickly think of something else to do. The guards hadn't batted an eye towards the roof, they didn't know Sicheng was up there. 

The voice kept quiet, a whisper. Whoever it was, they weren't supposed to be there either. If they didn't want their presence to be known, they wouldn't shoot. Guns were too loud. 

Sicheng held his breath, it was a big assumption but it was the only idea he had. He dropped the star, it clattered quietly enough to not be found out. 

"Quit moving." Sicheng felt the cold gun barrel pressed roughly on the back of his head. Sicheng placed his hand on the ground for balance and used all his force to kick down the knees of the figure behind him. The figure stumbled back and Sicheng pulled a knife out, holding it up to the persons neck. They quickly regained their balance and held the gun right on Sicheng's forehead. 

They were both stuck.

"I'm pretty sure I can do more trouble with this gun than you can do with that knife." The stranger said, his voice still a whisper. 

"Oh yeah. And then what, you get killed by our friends downstairs." Sicheng rivaled, his hand as steady as ever, ready to slit the stranger's throat if he had too. Sicheng wasn't an amateur, his hands handled the knife like it was a part of his own body, he didn't need two tries to kill the stranger, in one swift movement he'd be dead. 

"Who do you work for?" The stranger asked, ignoring his statement.

"Why is that any of your business? Are you going to let me go or do you have to die?" Sicheng said, his voice unwavering, his mind on autopilot, his only concern was getting out. 

"I want to know your business with that man." Sicheng's curiosity peaked, he had no idea what his business with that man was, he only knew that he had to die. Sicheng hadn't noticed it but his hand showed his moment of weakness. The boy pushed him back and pinned his arms to the wall. Sicheng was close enough to the see the man's eyes, the rest of his face covered with a mask, similar to his own. 

He kneed the stranger with all his strength in the stomach, he went to pick up his knife and the star as the male doubled over. 

"Who's up there?!" shit. 

He'd been too loud. 

He turned to run and that's when the shooting started. Sicheng ducked behind the edge of the roof and closed his eyes, his ears ringing from all the gunshots. 

Suddenly, he was being pulled to his feet. Sicheng opened his eyes to the stranger pulling him across the roof. Sicheng shook his arm away but followed the stranger while trying to avoid the bullets. The stranger led him to the other side of the roof, the gunshots far enough to be loud background noise but no longer a threat to them. They most likely hadn't seen them on the roof and they were just shooting around aimlessly. 

The stranger jumped down in to a trash can from the roof and Sicheng followed, he climbed out of the garbage can to see the man waiting for him. 

The stranger pulled his mask off and stuck his hand out to shake, like they hadn't just fought each other less than five minutes ago, "I'm Yuta." 

Sicheng kept his arms crossed and began walking out of there, not saying anything to the boy. 

"Look I know it seems like I just tried to kill you up there but I can explain." The boy, Yuta, followed. 

Sicheng tried his best to ignore him but he stood in front of him, he was smiling. He had long white hair and sharp face features, he was too handsome for someone who almost shot him in the head. 

"I want to work with you. I saw you trying to kill Wei's right hand man, I've been trying to do the same." Sicheng's curiosity peaked again, who was Wei?

"Why'd you stop me then?" Sicheng questioned. 

"Because it was bad timing, I can give you a way better option if you agree to work with me." Sicheng was tempted, not because he couldn't do it himself but because his curiosity was eating him alive. This was a personal case, someone Bao personally wanted gone and Sicheng couldn't help but wonder why. Who was that important that they had to be dead. 

"I work alone." Sicheng said. Whoever it was, it was probably for a good reason, a bad person, someone who did something to deserve to die. 

"Oh c'mon please. I can tell you're a really good fighter, it would be great if I had someone to work with. And I have information, I'm on top of there whereabouts and if you need to know anything I'm the perfect person to ask." 

"It's a win-win." The boy smiled and Sicheng wanted to destroy the part of his brain that wanted to accept the offer just to know more. Know the back story, know anything about why Bao does what she does. 

"Find someone else to work with." Sicheng made his way back home, ignoring the curious, agonizing itch in his head. 

Sicheng met Renjun at the door, "Hey, how was your night?"

"Ugh, terrible. There was so many pedos this time, I did make a lot tho." Sicheng frowned and softly took the clips out of Renjun's hair. 

"You still wear these?" Sicheng asked, smiling down at them. It took Sicheng back to when Renjun had just started learning about gambling. Renjun had been having a hard time so Bao told him the clips had magical powers in them and if he wore them his brain power would expand and he'd be able to understand the cards. He had a phase where he would never take them off because he wanted to be 'the smartest boy ever'. 

Renjun blushed, "Yeah, I can't focus without them.... and they like keep the hair out of my face and stuff."

Renjun grabbed them out of Sicheng's hand and pocketed them.

"How was your night?" Renjun asked to which Sicheng just shrugged.

"Fine." 

Renjun nodded, not expecting a real answer from him and randomly wrapped him in a hug. 

Sicheng wasn't a very touchy person, even when it came to his own family and they all knew that but if they ever needed him, he'd be there.

Renjun's hair tickled Sicheng's nose, "We should step inside."

Renjun hummed, barely an answer, he was falling asleep in Sicheng's arms. Sicheng sighed, no normal teenager had to deal with that. 

But nothing about their lives was ever normal. 

Sicheng helped Renjun in to his bed and walked downstairs in to the kitchen. Bao was sitting on the kitchen counter flipping through papers.

She smiled when she noticed Sicheng walking through the door.

"Hey love. How was it?" 

Sicheng looked down at her papers, wondering what she was looking at. 

"It went okay." Sicheng never felt like explaining the details. His family didn't have to know how he killed people. 

"That's good. Are you hungry? I have snacks." Bao tilted her head to her snack platter. Sicheng nodded, he hadn't realized he was hungry until after she mentioned it. 

They sat together in silence, Sicheng eating and Bao doing whatever she was doing.

"Can I ask who it is?" Sicheng let slip out of his mouth, he didn't know why he was so hesitant on asking her. Why would she hide anything from him.

"What do you mean?" Bao asked, not looking up from her papers. 

"Like.... the person I'm meant to kill. Who is he?" Sicheng rephrased, his anxiety bubbling up. For what? It was his own mother. 

Bao looked up at him, "Why? You've never asked before." 

Sicheng shrugged, trying to be nonchalant, "I'm just curious. Wouldn't you like to know who you're brutally murdering." 

Bao hummed, "He's someone who gets in my way." 

Something didn't sit right with Sicheng, he was killing someone solely because they got in her way. In her way of what? What could possibly be so annoying that they had to die. 

"So I'm just killing people now because they inconvenience you." Sicheng said hesitantly, there had to be more.

Bao took her glasses off, her focus no longer on the papers. Her eyes staring right in to Sicheng's, "Don't question me, I wouldn't make you harm someone if they didn't really deserve it. This man doesn't deserve life." 

Sicheng nodded so that she would take her eyes off of him, she looked back down at her information again, "You should go to sleep babe. It seems like you need it." 

"Yeah, you're probably right." Sicheng stood from his seat, "Good night, love you." 

Bao repeated after him and he went back up the stairs, he was more unsatisfied than before. He tried to ignore it as he went to sleep but it was impossible to not overthink it. 

𖧷𖧋𖧷

It was the morning of the second Casino date, this was his last chance to kill this man. 

Sicheng was eating his breakfast deep in thought. He thought back to the boy. It didn't have to be his last chance if he had accepted his offer.

"Hey." Donghyuck said walking in to the kitchen, snapping Sicheng out of his thoughts.

Sicheng gave him a nod of acknowledgment and continued to watch as Donghyuck played with their coffee maker. 

"How do you work this thing." Sicheng sighed and got up to help the boy.

Donghyuck smiled widely and Sicheng actually saw the cuteness in him for a second, like he was his own younger brother.

"You're like really pretty Sicheng." Donghyuck said as Donghyuck's filled two cups of coffee up.

Sicheng rose an eyebrow, "Thank you?" 

"I'm just wondering how you don't have a boyfriend. You're like literally gorgeous, in that mysterious way. Kind of like Renjun..... but not mean." Donghyuck was a lot weirder than Renjun, Sicheng wondered how they had become friends. He was completely comfortable around Sicheng though and Sicheng had no idea why.

"I'm just not interested." Sicheng shrugged, he didn't have the time nor the head space to be interested. 

"You and Renjun are the same person I swear." Donghyuck took both of the cups of coffee and went towards Renjun's room. Him and Renjun were definitely not as similar as Donghyuck thought. 

That night Sicheng was nervous but he didn't let it show as he choose his weapons, Bao watching him right behind him. 

"How do you feel?" She asked, "Do you think you'll be able to do it." 

Sicheng turned around to look at her, her face showed worry and Sicheng smiled, "Yeah, it should be fine. I almost got him the first time." 

"Okay. That's good..... about our conversation last night." Sicheng noticed she was nervous, what could possibly make Bao nervous. 

"I'm sorry I snapped at you..... it's just this man..." Bao's eyes started watering and Sicheng's heart crumbled, he'd never seen her cry. 

She held her breath, "He's done me wrong too many times. And him being gone from this earth would make me feel a little less trapped." 

Sicheng watched a tear fall from her eye, whatever this man had done was horrible if it could make Bao cry. Sicheng hugged her, her face buried in his chest and her head in Sicheng's hand. 

That moment was the closest moment of transparency that Sicheng had had with Bao, she never told him anything and after the moment passed, they acted like it never happened. 

Sicheng still had no clue about anything Bao did but he knew that whoever this man was, his last breath would be that night. 

It took Sicheng an hour to get to the Casino, an entire city over. The night was alive and Sicheng blend in well with the crowd, his weapons concealed, his swords cased, looking like any other costume. 

He finally spotted the man, surrounded by his men. They were sitting at one of the casino tables, having drinks, Sicheng would have to wait until they went somewhere more private. Sicheng counted his men, 6. If he got up close, would he be able to take 6 of them? 

Sicheng was fast with his swords but he wasn't superhuman, he wouldn't be able to dodge bullets from up close. He would have to wait till they left, Sicheng sat three booths away and ordered food to not seem suspicious, the waiter complimented his 'costume' and left him his drinks that he wasn't going to touch. He couldn't eat before literally murdering someone. 

"I wasn't sure if I was going to see you here." Sicheng looked up from his fingers to see the white haired boy sliding in front of him. 

The boy took a sip of the drinks Sicheng had ordered, Sicheng saw it as inappropriate for someone who was trying to achieve the same goal as him. 

"You're going to attract attention to me, please leave." Sicheng said, the boy, Yuta was it, smirked. 

"Right because the entirety of your body being covered in black clothing and sitting alone in a busy casino isn't giving anything away." Sicheng grimaced, the waiter brought his food to the table and Yuta helped himself.

"What's your plan for the night?" Yuta asked in a whisper. 

"None of your business." Sicheng answered but he was curious as to what Yuta had planned, seeing that he had sabotaged him last time Sicheng thought that maybe the boy was waiting to carry out a plan he'd been working on.

Sicheng didn't need a plan from him though, that man was dying tonight no matter what. The white haired boy would not get in his way.

"Are you planning on killing him tonight?" Yuta pried and Sicheng decided to entertain him with a nod.

Yuta nodded back, "You know we could work together." 

"I work fine alone." 

"Look man..... I know a lot about these people and I'm assuming you're a samurai, which there's nothing wrong with. Actually, my entire family is full of samurai, I'm the only gun man but that's besides the point. If you want a chance at getting close to him you're going to need a sniper. I can knock half of his body guards from afar so that you can get closer. We both get what we want, c'mon it's seriously a win-win." Sicheng was intrigued with the offer, had he had a plan to take them all out? No. He was good at fighting in the heat of the moment but Yuta's plan was appealing and safe. 

Sicheng was also interested in the boys family. Yuta was correct about Sicheng being a samurai, it was an unusual path that he took since samurai were typically Japanese. Sicheng was taught to wield his swords by a sensei that Bao had hired, he was the only other person Sicheng knew who shared the same art form. 

".....Fine." Sicheng gave in, partly because the help would be nice but mostly because his curiosity got the better of him.

"Really?" Yuta smiled in surprise.

"Great! We have probably more than an hour to talk out a plan." Yuta took a pen out of his jacket and started scribbling on a napkin.

"These men don't just go out to have fun, they're here for business. They get a little drunk and then go out to deal with each other." Yuta started drawing squares. 

"Lucky for you I was here yesterday and I've memorized the surrounding buildings. Here is where we are." Yuta pointed at one of the squares from the five that were on the paper. 

Yuta had properly done his research and Sicheng wasn't going to lie, he was impressed. 

"What was your name by the way?" Yuta asked, looking up from the napkin. 

Sicheng shook his head, "Classified." 

Yuta sighed, "Fine, we don't have to be friends. I'll name you Winwin." Yuta wrote a ww on the building they were in. Sicheng wasn't fond of being named like a dog but at least he wasn't planning on seeing him again. 

"When I'm done explaining the plan I'll be going to the roof of this building..." Yuta pointed, "There's only two back exits in this building, so depending on which one they exit you will be going through the opposite one. This building is placed so that I'll have a clear shot no matter what exit they take." 

Yuta explained the rest of the plan thoroughly and left Sicheng with the napkin, it was another hour until the men finally left. Sicheng started following after them once they were far enough to not notice him. Yuta was right, they had gone out through one of the back exits and Sicheng rushed to find the second one that Yuta had tried to direct him to while they were sitting in the booth. 

Once he found it, he opened it carefully and ran around the building where he met Yuta on a staircase. He had left all his equipment on the roof, "Here."

"Keep the volume low to be safe." Yuta whispered, handing him a walkie talkie with an ear piece, Sicheng let Yuta set it up and he was running quietly through the alley in a second. 

Sicheng stopped once he heard the deep voices of men, he hid behind the nearest garbage can, the casino's logo printed on the side. 

Sicheng sat down, preparing himself to attack, he took deep breaths and waited for Yuta's signal. He tried keeping his legs warm so that he could run as fast as possible. 

Sicheng could make out some of the words they were saying, "He should be here in a bit." 

Sicheng's stomach was filling with nervousness, he couldn't see their positions, he was running in blindly. He tried to collect himself, he'd never been so nervous before, he was relying on someone else this time. A stranger. Remembering Bao's tears made him feel even more pressure, this man had to die. 

Sicheng took another breath and tried to undo the knots forming in his stomach.

"Winwin, I'm in position but don't move yet." Sicheng jumped a little at Yuta's voice in his ears. 

"I'll shoot two of them before you get there so that they'll be focused on me. Don't worry too much, if the plan goes sideways just run off to where I told you too and we'll get away and try another time. I've been keeping tabs on this man for months if I didn't think it was safe I wouldn't have made a move. I bet you've done this a lot so you don't need the reassurance but I just wanted to say good luck, not that you'll need it because I'm here." Yuta laughed a little at his own joke, cringing at the flirtyness of it and it brought a small smile to Sicheng's face without him realizing it. 

"Thank you." Sicheng whispered and he genuinely meant it, the knots in his stomach started to unravel. He'd never had anyone to pep talk him before, and Bao's didn't count since she didn't know what it was like being in the situations she put him in. 

"Ok get ready." Sicheng got on his feet, still crouching behind the garbage can to stay hidden. He took his swords out silently and held them like he'd held them many times before, he breathed and waited. 

"Go." 

Sicheng ran through the alley, his footsteps still quiet. When the seven men came to view, two of them were on the floor just like how Yuta said they would be. 

The rest of them were pointing their guns at the roof completely unaware of Sicheng's presence so Sicheng worked fast while he had the chance. 

When he slit the first man's throat is when the others started noticing him, he didn't wait till the man fell, he wasn't about to let three guns get a direct shot at him. 

Sicheng turned to get the man behind him and let his blade slide across his arm that was holding the gun before he could get a shot in. The gun dropped from the man's hand and he slit the man's ankles, his yell was almost louder than the gunshot Sicheng heard from beside him. 

Sicheng was fast to fall to the floor to avoid the gunshot wherever it was coming from, rolling over and feeling a sting on his left arm. It was just a graze, it didn't hurt enough to be a hole in his arm but Sicheng didn't dwell on it, he got back up and lifted his right arm to swing but he didn't have to go that far, he watched as a bullet went straight through his head, the man's eyes rolling back and his body falling backwards.

Sicheng took a deep breath and looked around, all six bodies were on the floor, he went up to the man whose ankles he sliced and held his breath as he jabbed one of his swords through his back, aiming for his heart. He couldn't have any survivors, they could be witnesses and lead back to Bao. 

Sicheng looked for the man who he was originally supposed to kill, he had gotten a few feet away dragging his leg that Sicheng assumed Yuta had shot. 

"You'll regret this." The man screamed at him. 

"Whoever you are, dead or not I will find you and we will murder you and everyone you love. And if not we'll make your life torture, don't think that you'll get away with this." Sicheng wondered who 'we' was but this man's last words were making it easier to kill him. 

Sicheng lifted both of his arms, his left arm in slight pain, he was about to swing when a bullet hit him right in the abdomen. All of the air in his body stolen from him, he landed on the ground with a thud, his head in pain. 

Sicheng's vision blurred, he tried to blink it away but the black dots were taking over. Instead he tried to focus on his breath, he slowly tried breathing, the pain in his abdomen intense with each inhale. Sicheng could hear the distant laugh of the man and Yuta in his ear piece. 

"Winwin, hold on, don't die on me."

Sicheng reached his good arm down his pocket and took out one of his stars, he picked his head up to see the man sitting on the ground laughing, probably thrown down by the force of the gun given that his leg was already injured. Sicheng took a good deep breath in and threw the star right on his face. The effort of the throw sent a jolt of pain through Sicheng's stomach. 

The look of surprise on the mans face was almost comical, he was already ridiculously pale but his face dropping made it seem like he lost color. The man ripped the star out of his head and the blood gushed out of his forehead, he started foaming at the mouth and Sicheng let his head fall, he didn't have to see more. The poison had done its job. 

Sicheng took the bullet out of his vest and took another breath in, that was definitely going to leave a bad bruise. 

Sicheng sat up and picked up his swords, he put them away, lifting his arms slowly to put them in the cases on his back. The pain of every movement not going unnoticed for a second. 

He slowly got on his feet and saw Yuta running towards him, this time with his mask on. 

"We have to go before they get here." Yuta picked him up, a groan coming out of Sicheng. 

"I'm sorry, it's only going to hurt for a little longer." Yuta ran with Sicheng in his arms, he'd never been carried like a child, it was almost embarrassing if the pain wasn't making him on the verge of passing out. 

Yuta half threw him in a car and Sicheng groaned again, Yuta rushing in next to him, "GO!" 

The car sped off and Sicheng opened his eyes to see two kids, probably Renjun's age in the car with what looked like Yuta's equipment. 

"Is he okay?" A boy with worried eyes said. 

"He will be." 

Sicheng sat up with a groan and looked down at the cut on his arm, "It would be better if you stayed laying down." 

Yuta took his mask off and looked at Sicheng with concern, "It's fine, do you have a first aid kit?" 

The younger boy moved quickly, opening a first aid kit in front of him. Sicheng bent down to grab an alcohol pad and a bandaid with a groan he tried to hide.

"Please let me treat you." The boy said, kneeling in front of him and Sicheng gave in, letting his head fall back and letting the boy take care of his arm. Sicheng focused on his breath and took his phone out of his pocket texting his driver. 

Sicheng gave Yuta the location of where his driver wanted to meet him, their car actually tailing him but they were driving 30 minutes out to stay on the safe side. 

Sicheng barely reacted when the kid put the alcohol pad on him, he had him all bandaged up in five minutes. 

"Sorry that you got shot, I didn't think he could even shoot straight." 

"Don't worry. It isn't the first time." Sicheng said between breaths. It hadn't been, at least this time it didn't feel like a broken rib. 

They got to a secluded spot on the road and Yuta helped Sicheng in to his car. 

"Thank you for everything." Yuta said even though Sicheng was definitely the one that should be thanking him. 

"If you ever want to know more, feel free to contact me." Yuta set a piece of paper in Sicheng's hand and Sicheng nodded. 

"Goodbye Winwin." Yuta smiled with all his teeth and closed the door. His driver drove off and he was left to wonder.

Know more. Know more about what? 

Find out who the man was? Find out who Yuta was trying to escape back there? 

They were somehow connected to Bao. Sicheng's curiosity was sure to win. 

And it did. 

Sicheng slowly figured out more of the truth in the months to come. Why Bao would hide it from him he didn't understand.

But the events of that night were definitely going to bite them in the ass later.

𖧷𖧋𖧷

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> plot chapter af
> 
> I don’t have many ao3 readers for this fic but don’t be shy! Leave a comment 
> 
> \- Jill


End file.
